Slow-closing door and refuse container embodying same

Abstract

A refuse container contains at least one door which may be easily pushed toward an open position in which the door rotates into an interior of the container. The door returns to a closed position under the force of a closing mechanism which may be a spring. However, the closing of the door is slowed by a damping mechanism.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An apparatus comprising: 
 at least one wall having an opening therein;    a door adapted to move between an open position and a closed position, wherein the door substantially closes the opening when in the closed position;    support structure that supports the door for movement between the open and closed positions;    a closing mechanism supplying a force that biases the door toward the closed position; and    a damping mechanism that opposes the force supplied by the closing mechanism to retard movement of the door from the open position to the closed position.    
     
     
         2 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the door is configured to move inward from the closed position to the open position and outward from the open position to the closed position.  
     
     
         3 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the closing mechanism includes a spring.  
     
     
         4 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the damping mechanism is selected from the group consisting of a rotary damper, a linear damper, a servomotor, an actuator, a variable rate spring, friction, and a gas spring.  
     
     
         5 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the door is adapted to move from the open position to the closed position in greater than about three seconds.  
     
     
         6 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the door is adapted to move from the open position to the closed position in greater than about three seconds and less than about ten seconds.  
     
     
         7 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 a base separably supporting the at least one wall.    
     
     
         8 . A method of producing refuse containers, comprising the steps of: 
 providing refuse containers each having at least one wall with an opening therein, a door sized to substantially fill the opening when in a closed position, and a door closing mechanism for connecting to an inner surface of the at least one wall and to an inner surface of the door;    providing a damping mechanism, which opposes force supplied by the door closing mechanism, in selected ones of the refuse containers and omitting the damping mechanism from selected ones of the refuse containers.    
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein in those containers in which a damping mechanism is not provided, the method further comprises the step of: 
 retrofitting, at a later time, the containers not having a damping mechanism to include a damping mechanism that opposes force supplied by the door closing mechanism.    
     
     
         10 . A method comprising the steps of: 
 providing a refuse container, the container comprising: 
 at least one wall having an opening therein;  
 a door adapted to move between an open position and a closed position, wherein the door substantially closes the opening when in the closed position;  
 support structure that supports the door for movement between the open and closed positions;  
 a closing mechanism supplying a force that biases the door toward the closed position; and  
 a damping mechanism that opposes the force supplied by the closing mechanism to retard movement of the door from the open position to the closed position;  
   moving the door from the closed position to the open position, wherein the moving of the door to the open position is retarded by the closing mechanism but not by the damping mechanism;    moving the door from the open position to the closed position, wherein the moving of the door to the closed position is retarded by the damping mechanism.    
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 10 , wherein between the steps of moving the door from the closed position to the open position and moving the door from the open position to the closed position, the method further comprises the steps of: 
 passing refuse through the opening; and    releasing the refuse into the refuse container.    
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 10 , wherein the door is configured to move inward toward an interior of the refuse container when moving from the closed position to the open position, and wherein the door is configured to move outward toward an exterior of the refuse container when moving from the open position to the closed position.  
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 10 , wherein the closing mechanism includes a spring.  
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 10 , wherein the damping mechanism is selected from the group consisting of a rotary damper, a linear damper, a servomotor, an actuator, a variable rate spring, friction, and a gas spring.  
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 14 , wherein the closing mechanism includes a spring.  
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 10 , wherein the door is adapted to move from the open position to the closed position in greater than about three seconds.  
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 10 , wherein the door is adapted to move from the open position to the closed position in greater than about three seconds and less than about ten seconds.  
     
     
         18 . A method of depositing trash in a refuse container, comprising the steps of: 
 opening a door of a refuse container at a first speed;    depositing trash in the refuse container; and    allowing the door to close, due at least to a force supplied by a closing mechanism, at a second speed that is slower than the first speed.