Take one plastic garbage bag. Shake to expand. Insert in garbage can and wrap edge of bag over lip of trash can. Notice that, due to air trapped between bag and can, interior of trash can now looks like an air mattress for your garbage. Lift lip of bag to allow air to escape. Wait. Wait some more. Realize that with nothing in the bag, there's nothing to force the air out. Consider pricking hole(s) in bag. Reconsider when you realize what will happen when you lift the bag for disposal.

Solution: Garbage can with hole(s), possibly in a decorative pattern, near top to allow air to escape.

(There is one hit on Google similar to this idea (link) but I'd like to point out that my idea explicitly calls for the vent to be near the top not the bottom.
No, you don't want the holes near the bottom - in case the bag tears and liquid escapes.
No, I couldn't find a better catagory)
-- phoenix, Jan 17 2002

Vented Trash Can http://www.invention.com/levasseur.htm
Close. Is it different enough? [phoenix, Jan 17 2002]

What about stench concerns? Maybe sealable vents: After the bag goes in you push a slide or some such thing and the holes are blocked.

Will holes near the top be as effective as holes at the bottom?
-- Monkfish, Jan 17 2002


just put something in the bottom of the bag before placing in the bin eg empty cat food tin.
-- gizmo, Jan 17 2002


on phoenix' link: "The low manufacturing cost of the Vented Trash Can is of major importance" - but not for the reason the inventor thinks. You can pop a hole in any trash can, thus eliminating the need for special manufacture.

So your idea probably isn't really different enough, at least for most patent purposes. But it might be for cosmetic or "look-and-feel" type of patentability. Stick a charcoal filter in the hole and maybe then it would be more unique.

A one-way flapper valve at the bottom of the can would permit air to come in, preventing the vacuum effect when removing the full bag, while keeping fluids in.
-- quarterbaker, Jan 17 2002


The problem I'm trying to solve is not the 'vacuum effect' upon removal, it's the 'poof effect' upon insertion. Call me thick, but I hadn't realized the purpose behind the other design was to prevent vacuum on removal.

Do you really think there would be odor? The hole(s) are in the can, not the bag. The bag would otherwise seat normally in the can, and any lid would still operate. I suppose a door or spring-loaded button could be used - allowing the air out but allowing the aperature to be closed.
-- phoenix, Jan 18 2002


Sounds like you are spending good money to pamper your trash to me, phoenix. You are undoubtedly buying rolls of pristine trash can liners (like Glad Bags, or other Brands) which have the benefit of maximizing space in your trash can, but by being such a tight fit, require pushing all the way down manually or devising some kind of venting system, as you describe. Why not instead merely tell the bagger next time you are at the market to pack your groceries in their plastic bags (instead of the paper bags you are presumably getting now, and patting yourself on the back for being ecologically minded)? You'll find those plastic grocery bags will not only get your groceries home in reasonably good shape, but they conform pretty well to the average under-counter and under-desk waste can. Sure, you may use a few more of these bags than your higher sided Glad Bags, but (1) they were free to you; (2) they already were used once in transporting your groceries home, so you are responsibly re-cycling; (3) you saved a tree by not having asked the market to provide you with paper bags; (4)unless you are living in a garbage factory, you will ALWAYS end up with more plastic grocery bags than you can possibly utilize, which many markets will take back for actual re-cycling. I've been using this technique for the last ten years and the local trash collector hasn't sneered, jeered or even scowled at me once in all that time.
-- jurist, Jan 18 2002


I've got this croissant *just_begging*...
Not 1, Not 2, But 3 Solutions to 3 problems using 1 simple modification:
Solution Modification: Vent from BBQ/Smoker. For prototype purposes, surely there is an old rusty BBQ around somewhere which you can use for a 'Vent Transplant'.
Open/Close the 'decorative' vent which looks somewhat like a 1 dimensional turbine over holes of same size/spacing in Trash Can which you cut out with a Drexel Tool after you traced outline, Open/Close to your hearts content while your Trash Bag stays put. Problem solved - but wait, there's more!
More?
That's right - You can spray whatever you wish into said Open Vent to kill pests without letting more in/out - but wait, there's more!
There's more?
That's right, to keep your trash smelling fresh, spray something else. Now how much would you pay?...
Prototype made, 3 Problems solved, Patent filled, Checks signed...

I used to use a guitar stand to hold my 'free' Store plastic Trash bags in the air which were of the type jurist also prefers. Never had a crawling pest problem, while all my neighbors did, as-if bugs tried, they surely left for greener pastures. No flies either - never kept trash long enough.
-- thumbwax, Jan 18 2002


(I read that last para twice, missing the word 'stand' both times and starting to think thumbwax was a bit odd)
-- hippo, Jan 18 2002


You mean Finally starting?
-- thumbwax, Jan 18 2002


Yeah, it's not peace in the Middle East or anything. Just a simple solution to a minor annoyance.
-- phoenix, Jan 18 2002


Last week I decided to drill vent holes in my large outdoor garbage cans to vent the rather large volumes of water vapor that currently condenses on the lid and collects in a pool at the bottom of the can.
-- beauxeault, Jan 18 2002


Yeah, beaux - I think outdoor trash cans almost demand a drain hole, though none are equipped that way. But it's such a simple thing to do, why should the manufacturers bother? Course, then you can't use it as a jumbo cooler for your next kegger or block party.

For the indoor arena, how about a trash "can" that is made up of multiple trash bags? Kind of like a stack of paper cups, but upside down. Again, it doesn't solve the vacuum problem, but does eliminate the poof issue. Fifty trash bags, already lining the inside of a cardboard shell. Fill it up, pull out the innermost bag, and it's ready to go.

Consumer Advice: when preparing to pull a garbage bag out of a can, stick a yardstick down between the bag and the can, all the way to the bottom, to prevent the vacuum effect.
-- quarterbaker, Jan 18 2002


phoenix, you should try out what I suggested - if it bakes - and some manufacturer picks up on it - you could financially benefit from people stealing these vented trash can lids from other people - they'd buy replacements, so on and so forth. Job Security, ya dig?
-- thumbwax, Jan 19 2002


Kind of what I thought, too.
-- StarChaser, Jan 19 2002


And that's exactly who this product is geared at - Anal Retentives. There is a never-ending supply of ARs - phoenix will make a Fortune.
-- thumbwax, Jan 19 2002


How about a small hose which runs from the bottom of the can to a spot near the top? Thus allowing air to leave from the bottom of the can while ensuring that liquids do not.
-- supercat, Jan 20 2002


Why would you want to let all that valuable methane out? Once a gas company critter was at our house and her leak meter went nuts near our compost bucket.
-- LoriZ, Jan 20 2002



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