Receptacles – Wall supported container – Container pivotally attached
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-25
2001-05-08
Shoap, Allan N. (Department: 3727)
Receptacles
Wall supported container
Container pivotally attached
C220S481000, C220S576000, C248S225110
Reexamination Certificate
active
06227400
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to an ashtray having a wall mount and an ashtray rotatable relative to the wall mount for emptying out the ashtray.
BACKGROUND ART
Various ashtray and receptacle designs exist for the temporary storage of ashes and cigarette butts outside of buildings. The better designs are windproof so that burning cigarettes and ashes do not get blown about causing potential fire hazards and eyesores. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,750,824 issued Aug. 7, 1973 to Walton discloses a ashtray comprising a receptacle with an opening on its top surface and having a roller with a plurality of arms located in that opening. Cigarette butts or ashes are put in the roller and emptied into the receptacle when the roller is turned. Four obvious drawbacks to this design are the number and complexity of the parts that make up the ashtray, problems associated with emptying out the receptacle, the fact that a user must manually rotate the roller, and easy theft of the ashtray itself.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
The present invention provides an ashtray assembly wherein the burning ashes or cigarettes are contained in a receptacle to prevent them from being blown about in a potentially dangerous manner. The ashtray assembly comprises a tube-like ashtray having an open end and a closed end and a projection extended therefrom. The assembly also includes a locking nut sized to receive the projection. A mounting bracket having top, front, and rear surfaces is also provided. A first vertical elongated slot through the mounting bracket is sized to receive the projection and part of the locking nut. A second vertical elongated slot, coaxial with the first elongated slot, is formed on the back surface of the mounting bracket sized to receive the locking nut. The projection is inserted through the first elongated slot from the front surface and the locking nut is then positioned over the projection and into the second elongated slot. The locking nut is then pressed over the projection thereby locking the ashtray to the mounting bracket. The elongated slots allow the ashtray to be moved by sliding vertically and rotated about the projection. This, in operation, makes the projection and locking nut as a journal and the mounting bracket slots as a bearing.
An alignment fin may be provided on the ashtray tube to rest in an alignment slot or indent on the top surface of the mounting bracket that prevents rotation and further vertically downward movement. Thus, the fin and top surface indent cooperate to form a latch holding the tube-like ashtray upright.
The ashtray is emptied by vertically lifting the ashtray so that the ashtray is unlatched when the alignment fin is no longer in the alignment slot or indent and then rotating the ashtray 180 degrees to dump the collected ashes and cigarette butts. The ashtray is then rotated back 180 degrees and lowered until the alignment fin is in the alignment slot or indent thereby preventing further rotation and downward movement and affixing the ashtray for further collections.
Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide an improved ashtray assembly that can be fixedly attached to a building to deter theft of the ashtray unit.
Another object of the invention is to provide an ashtray assembly for progressively collecting smoking materials and periodically dumping same. The ashtray includes a collector tube having an open end for receiving smoking materials to be collected, a substantially closed end for retaining the smoking materials collected, a journal portion for pivotally supporting the tube, and a first latch portion. It also includes mounting structure adapted to be fixed relative to a supporting wall and has a second latch portion and an elongated bearing portion configured to pivotally and slidably receive the journal portion. The journal portion of the collection tube is pivotable and slidable with respect to the elongated bearing portion to engage and disengage the first and second latch portions, whereby to respectively position the collector tube in one manner for collecting smoking materials and to position the collector tube in another manner for dumping the smoking materials collected.
Another object of this invention is to provide a slit and locking nub on the alignment fin and a locking notch on the mounting bracket such that the locking nub fits in the locking notch to prevent vertical movement of the ashtray. Ashtray
10
must be rotated such that the locking nub is no longer in the locking notch before it can be removed.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description below and the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1618985 (1927-03-01), Kelley et al.
patent: 2608843 (1952-09-01), Kennedy
patent: 2661747 (1953-12-01), Manion
patent: 3052346 (1962-09-01), Maron
patent: 3472239 (1969-10-01), Gielow et al.
patent: 3750824 (1973-08-01), Walton
patent: 4964425 (1990-10-01), Chang
patent: 5067626 (1991-11-01), Leumi
patent: 5205299 (1993-04-01), Chen
patent: 5209446 (1993-05-01), Kawai
patent: 5947322 (1999-09-01), Ho
Brooks & Kushman P.C.
Merek Joe
Shoap Allan N.
LandOfFree
Ashtray assembly adapted to be fixedly mounted to a wall of... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Ashtray assembly adapted to be fixedly mounted to a wall of..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Ashtray assembly adapted to be fixedly mounted to a wall of... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2469416