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US 2007/0182551 A1Published application
Trash can with power operated lid
Assigneesimplehuman, LLC
InventorsFrank Yang, Joseph Sandor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A trash can can include a sensor for detecting the presence of an object near a lower portion of the trash can. The detection of the object can be used to signal the trash can to open its lid. The trash can can include an electric drive unit for opening and closing the lid.
Claims20
An enclosed receptacle comprising:
- a receptacle portion defining a reservoir;
- a door mounted relative to the receptacle and configured to move between opened and closed positions;
- a power supply;
- a motor configured to move the door between the opened and closed positions;
- a controller configured to control operation of the door, the controller comprising:
- a door movement trigger module configured to allow a user to issue a command to the controller to open the door;
- a power supply voltage monitor module configured to detect a voltage of the power supply only once each time the command has been detected by the door movement trigger module;
- a door position monitor module having at least one sensor configured to monitor a position of the door;
- a door position sensor control module configured to supply power to the at least one sensor only when the door is being moved by the motor;
- a motor drive module configured to vary the power output of the motor to compensate for variations in a voltage of the power supply detected by the power supply voltage monitor and for variations in a force required to move the door at a substantially constant speed based on the position of the door detected by the door position monitor module;
- a braking module configured to slow the movement of the door as it approaches a stop position by reversing the power output of the motor for a predetermined braking time beginning at a predetermined position before the opened and closed positions of the door;
- and
- a fault detection module configured to stop operation of the motor and to provide an indication of a fault if the motor has been operating for more than a predetermined time period.
10 more elements
An enclosed receptacle comprising:
- a receptacle portion defining a reservoir;
- a door mounted relative to the receptacle and configured to move between opened and closed positions;
- a power supply;
- a motor configured to move the door between the opened and closed positions;
- a controller configured to control operation of the door, the controller comprising:
- a door movement trigger module configured to allow a user to issue a command to the controller to open the door;
- and
- a power supply voltage monitor module configured to detect a voltage of the power supply when the command has been detected by the door movement trigger module.
5 more elements
An enclosed receptacle comprising:
- a receptacle portion defining a reservoir;
- a door mounted relative to the receptacle and configured to move between opened and closed positions;
- a power supply;
- a motor configured to move the door between the opened and closed positions;
- a controller configured to control operation of the door, the controller comprising:
- a door movement trigger module configured to allow a user to issue a command to the controller to open the door;
- a door position monitor module having at least one sensor configured to monitor a position of the door;
- and
- a door position sensor control module configured to selectively supply power to the at least one sensor when the door is being moved by the motor.
6 more elements
An enclosed receptacle comprising:
- a receptacle portion defining a reservoir;
- a door mounted relative to the receptacle and configured to move between opened and closed positions;
- a power supply;
- a motor configured to move the door between the opened and closed positions;
- a controller configured to control operation of the door, the controller comprising:
- a power supply voltage monitor module configured to detect a voltage of the power supply;
- and
- a motor drive module configured to vary the power output of the motor to compensate for variations in a voltage of the power supply detected by the power supply voltage monitor.
5 more elements
An enclosed receptacle comprising:
- a receptacle portion defining a reservoir;
- a door mounted relative to the receptacle and configured to move between opened and closed positions;
- a power supply;
- a motor configured to move the door between the opened and closed positions;
- and
- a controller configured to control operation of the door, the controller comprising:
- a braking module configured to slow the movement of the door as it approaches a stop position by reversing the power output of the motor for a predetermined braking time beginning at a predetermined position before the opened and closed positions of the door.
4 more elements
An enclosed receptacle comprising:
- a receptacle portion defining a reservoir;
- a door mounted relative to the receptacle and configured to move between opened and closed positions;
- a power supply;
- a motor configured to move the door between the opened and closed positions;
- and
- a controller configured to control operation of the door, the controller comprising:
- a fault detection module configured to stop operation of the motor and to provide an indication of a fault if the motor has been operating for more than a predetermined time period.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.