An animal-resistant latching system for inhibiting animals from accessing food and food containing refuse within containers. The device is composed of an access panel containing an opening to which is secured at least one latching members, a cam assembly, a cover, and a bracket. The latching members
An animal-resistant latching system for inhibiting animals from accessing food and food containing refuse within containers. The device is composed of an access panel containing an opening to which is secured at least one latching members, a cam assembly, a cover, and a bracket. The latching members are positioned so as to inhibit access to the container when the member is in the latched position and allow access to the container when the member is in the unlatched position. The cam assembly communicates with the latching members so as to move the members between the latched and unlatched positions. The cover and bracket are dimensioned and positioned on the access panel in a predetermined manner so as allow human hands access to the cam assembly and unlatch the container while simultaneously inhibiting such access by animals.
대표청구항▼
What is claimed is: 1. An animal resistant latching system for use with a container to inhibit access to the interior of the container by animals, the latching system comprising: an access panel having a first and a second side and an opening formed between the first and second sides wherein the ac
What is claimed is: 1. An animal resistant latching system for use with a container to inhibit access to the interior of the container by animals, the latching system comprising: an access panel having a first and a second side and an opening formed between the first and second sides wherein the access panel is adapted to be moved between an open and a closed position with respect to the container; at least one latching member that is movable between a latched position and an unlatched position wherein the at least one latching member is coupled to the access panel at a location wherein the at least one latching member inhibits movement of the access panel to thereby inhibit access to the container in the latched position and wherein the at least one latching member permits movement of the access panel to thereby allow access to the container in the unlatched position; a cover that is mounted on the second side of the access panel so as to cover the opening in the access panel wherein the cover has side walls that extends outward from the plane of the second side of the access panel and an outer surface that interconnects the side walls so as to define a space positioned above the opening in the access panel and a cover opening that permits access into the space defined by the cover from the outside of the container; a cam assembly having a cam body and a lever extending from the cam body, wherein the cam assembly is mounted to a first side of the access panel and wherein the cam body is coupled to the at least one latching member such that movement of the cam assembly results in movement of the at least one latching member between the latched and unlatched positions and wherein the lever is positioned so as to be accessible through the opening in the cover so as to allow a person to move the cam assembly from the outside of the container so as to urge the at least one latching member from the latched position to an unlatched position, and wherein the lever is positioned so as to be accessible from the first side so as to be accessible through the opening in the cover so as to allow a person to move the cam assembly from the inside of the container so as to urge the at least one latching member from the latched position to the unlatched position; wherein the cover opening permits access to the lever of the cam assembly via the opening in the access panel, wherein the cover opening is dimensioned so as to permit a human hand access to the lever via the opening in the access panel to manipulate the at least one latching member from the latched position to the unlatched position and is further dimensioned so as to inhibit a bear having a set of claws from accessing the lever to manipulate the at least one latching member from the latched position into the unlatched position; and a bracket positioned on the second side of the access panel adjacent the cover opening wherein the bracket extends outward from the second surface of the panel and wherein the bracket is spaced from the cover opening a distance that is selected to permit human access to the cover opening as a result of a human bending their fingers but inhibit access by bears as the bracket extends outward from the second surface of the panel and is spaced from a cover distances selected so that an access angle to the opening is greater than a critical angle that a bear can bend their claws but less than the angle by which a human can bend their fingers. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one latching member comprises a first and a second latching member positioned on opposite lateral sides of the access panel. 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one latching member is biased towards the latched position such that upon closing of the access panel, the at least one latching member is urged into the latched position. 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the cam assembly is a rotatable cam assembly and biases the at least one latching member into the latched position. 5. The system of claim 3, wherein the at least one latching member includes a spring which biases the at least one latching member into the latched position. 6. The system of claim 3, wherein the at least one latching member is contoured so as to permit closing of the access panel when the at least one latching member is in the latched position such that upon closing, the at least one latching member is urged again into the latched position. 7. The system of claim 1, wherein a plurality of edges of the access panel are reinforced so as to inhibit forceful opening of the access panel. 8. The system of claim 1, wherein a hinge of the access panel is recessed within the container so as to protect the hinge from damage. 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the cover opening height is dimensioned so as to permit the access of a human hand but inhibit the access of a bear claw. 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the cover opening height is approximately 1 inch, wherein the bracket extends outward from the second side of the access panel a bracket height distance of approximately 1 inch, and wherein the bracket is spaced from the cover opening a bracket offset distance of approximately 1.5 inches. 11. The system of claim 1, wherein the cam assembly requires a human to move the lever a selected lever actuation distance to remove the at least one latch member from the latched position to the unlatched position wherein the lever actuation distance is selected to be a distance that a human hand can move the lever the selected lever actuation distance but that a bear cannot move the lever the selected lever actuation distance. 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the lever actuation distance comprises at least approximately 2.25 inches wherein the lever is recessed at least approximately 0.5 inches from the cover opening in the latched position and wherein the cover has a cover depth of at least approximately 2.75 inches. 13. A bear resistant latching system for use with a container to inhibit access to the interior of the container by bears, the latching system comprising: an access panel having a first and a second side and an opening formed between the first and second sides wherein the access panel is adapted to be moved between an open and a closed position with respect to the container; at least one latching member that is movable between a latched position and an unlatched position wherein the at least one latching member is coupled to the access panel at a location wherein the at least one latching member inhibits movement of the access panel to thereby inhibit access to the container in the latched position and wherein the at least one latching member permits movement of the access panel to thereby allow access to the container in the unlatched position; a cover that is mounted on the second side of the access panel so as to cover the opening in the access panel wherein the cover has side walls that extends outward from the plane of the second side of the access panel and an outer surface that interconnects the side walls so as to define a space positioned above the opening in the access panel and a cover opening that permits access into the space defined by the cover from the outside of the container; a rotatable cam assembly having a cam body and a lever extending from the cam body wherein the rotatable cam assembly is mounted to a first side of the access panel and wherein the cam body is coupled to the at least one latching member such that rotation of the cam assembly results in movement of the at least one latching member between the latched and unlatched positions and wherein the lever is positioned so as to be accessible through the opening in the cover from the outside of the container so as to allow a person to move the rotatable cam assembly so as to urge the at least one latching member from the latched position to an unlatched position, and wherein the lever is positioned so as to be accessible from the first side so as to be accessible through the opening in the cover so as to allow a person to move the cam assembly from the inside of the container so as to urge the at least one latching member from the latched position to the unlatched position; wherein the cover opening permits access to the lever of the rotatable cam assembly via the opening in the access panel wherein the cover opening is dimensioned and the rotatable cam assembly is positioned relative to the cover opening so as to permit a human hand access to the lever via the opening in the access panel to manipulate the at least one latching member from the latched position to the unlatched position as a result of bending the fingers of the human hand and is further dimensioned and relatively positioned so as to inhibit a bear from accessing the lever to manipulate the at least one latching member from the latched position into the unlatched position as a result of the bear claws being unable to bend sufficiently to contact the cam assembly through the opening. 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one latching member comprises a first and a second latching member positioned on opposite lateral sides of the access panel. 15. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one latching member is biased towards the latched position such that upon closing of the access panel, the at least one latching member is urged into the latched position. 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the rotatable cam assembly includes a spring that induces a rotational bias of the cam assembly so as to bias the at least one latching member into the latched position. 17. The system of claim 15, wherein the at least one latching member includes a spring which biases the at least one latching member into the latched position. 18. The system of claim 15, wherein the at least one latching member is contoured so as to permit closing of the access panel when the at least one latching member is in the latched position such that upon closing, the at least one latching member is urged again into the latched position. 19. The system of claim 13, wherein a plurality of edges of the access panel are reinforced so as to inhibit forceful opening of the access panel. 20. The system of claim 13, wherein a hinge of the access panel is recessed within the container so as to protect the hinge from damage. 21. The system of claim 13, wherein the access panel is secured on 3 or more sides by a combination of the hinge and latching members so as to increase the difficulty of forcing open the access panel when in access panel is closed and the latching members in the latched position. 22. The system of claim 13, wherein the cover opening height is dimensioned so as to permit the access of a human hand but inhibit the access of a bear claw. 23. The cover opening height of claim 13, wherein the cover opening height is approximately 1 inch. 24. The system of claim 13, wherein a bracket is positioned on the second side of the access panel adjacent the cover opening wherein the bracket extends outward from the second surface of the panel and wherein the bracket is spaced from the cover opening a distance that is selected to permit human access to the cover opening but inhibit access by bears. 25. The system of claim 24, wherein the bracket extends outward from the second side of the access panel a bracket height distance of approximately 1 inch and the bracket is spaced from the cover opening a bracket offset distance of approximately 1.5 inches. 26. The system of claim 13, wherein the cam assembly requires a human to move the lever a selected lever actuation distance to remove the at least one latch member from the latched position to the unlatched position wherein the lever actuation distance is selected to be a distance that a human hand can move the lever the selected distance but that a bear cannot move the lever the selected lever actuation distance. 27. The system of claim 26, wherein the lever actuation distance comprises at least approximately 2.25 inches, wherein the lever is recessed at least approximately 0.5 inches from the cover opening in the latched position, and wherein the cover has a cover depth of at least approximately 2.75 inches. 28. A bear resistant latching system for use with a container to inhibit access to the interior of the container by bears, the latching system comprising: a container defining an interior accessible through a container mouth possessing a plurality of edges bordered by a container mouth frame; an access panel comprising a first side, a second side, an access panel opening formed between the first and second sides, a reinforced edge at the periphery of the access panel, and a hinge, wherein the hinge interconnects the access panel to the container, allowing the access panel to pivot between an opened and closed position with respect to the container; at least one latching member, mounted to the first side of the access panel, adjacent to the reinforced edge wherein the at least one latching member comprises a latch bolt which passes through a latch bolt housing wherein the latch bolt is moveable between a latched position and an unlatched position wherein the latch bolt inhibits movement of the access panel to thereby inhibit access to the container in the latched position and wherein the at least one latching member permits movement of the access panel to thereby allow access to the container in the unlatched position; a cover that is mounted on the second side of the access panel so as to cover the opening in the access panel wherein the cover has side walls that extends outward from the plane of the second side of the access panel and an outer surface that interconnects the side walls so as to define a space positioned above the opening in the access panel and a cover opening that permits access into the space defined by the cover from the outside of the container; an actuator mounted to a first side of the access panel, wherein the actuator has an actuator body and an actuating part extending from the actuator body, the actuator body is coupled to the at least one latching member such that movement of the actuator results in movement of the at least one latching member between the latched and unlatched positions and wherein the actuating part is positioned so as to be accessible through the opening in the cover so as to allow a person to move the actuator from the outside of the container so as to urge the at least one latching member from the latched position to an unlatched position, and wherein the actuating part is positioned so as to be accessible from the first side so as to be accessible through the opening in the cover so as to allow a person to move the cam assembly from the inside of the container so as to urge the at least one latching member from the latched position to the unlatched position; wherein the cover opening permits access to the actuating part via the opening in the access panel wherein the cover opening is dimensioned and the actuator is positioned relative to the cover opening so as to permit a human hand access to the actuating part via the opening in the access panel to manipulate the at least one latching member from the latched position to the unlatched position as a result of bending the fingers of the human hand and is further dimensioned and relatively positioned so as to inhibit a bear from accessing the actuating part to manipulate the at least one latching member from the latched position into the unlatched position as a result of the bear claws being unable to bend sufficiently to contact the actuating part through the opening. 29. The system of claim 28, wherein the at least one latching member comprises a first and a second latching member positioned on opposite lateral sides of the access panel. 30. The system of claim 28, wherein the hinge is recessed within the container so as to protect the hinge from damage. 31. The system of claim 30, wherein the latch bolts of the at least one latching member are secured within striker plate holes within the container mouth frame when the access panel is in the closed position, so as to secure the access panel on 3 or more sides by a combination of the hinge and latching members so as to increase the difficulty of forcing open the access panel when in access panel is closed and the latching members in the latched position. 32. The system of claim 28, wherein the at least one latching member moves to the latched position when the access panel is moved to the closed position. 33. The system of claim 32, wherein the actuator is biased in the latched position and a first end of the latch bolt possesses a contour such that when the access panel is moved from the open to closed positions and latch bolt is in the latched position, the container mouth frame presses against the contour, forcing the latch bolt away from the container mouth, allowing the access panel to move to the closed position and wherein upon reaching the closed position, the latch bolt is urged to the latched position. 34. The system of claim 28, wherein the actuator comprises a rotatable cam assembly. 35. The system of claim 28, wherein the cover opening height is approximately 1 inch and wherein the cover has a cover depth of at least approximately 2.75 inches, wherein a bracket extends outward from the second side of the access panel a bracket height distance of approximately 1 inch and the bracket is spaced from the cover opening a bracket offset distance of approximately 1.5 inches, wherein actuator requires a human to move the a lever of the actuator an actuation distance at least approximately 2.25 inches to remove the at least one latch member from the latched position to the unlatched position wherein the lever is recessed at least approximately 0.5 inches from the cover opening in the latched position.
Streit Philip N. (Rte. #1 ; Box 76B50 Opelousas LA TX 76108) Leininger Lyle E. (Rte. 8 Box 537 Lakeside TX 76108), Storage and disposal bin for waste fatty materials.
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