Container with foot-activated lid

Abstract

A container with a foot-activated lid is described. An foot-activation mechanism for coupling a foot pedal to the lid includes a horizontal wire disposed horizontally across the bottom of the container, and a vertical wire disposed vertically along a side wall of the container. The foot pedal is mounted on the bottom of the container and pivots around a hinge located at a distance from the side wall. When the foot pedal is pressed down, the horizontal wire rotates around its main segment, and the first bent segment pushes the vertical wire upward. The upper end of the vertical wire is coupled to a pivoting portion of a lid mounting member and causes the lid to open when the vertical wire moves upward.

1 . A container comprising: 
 a container body;    a lid;    a lid mounting member having a fixed portion attached to the container body and a pivoting portion attached to the lid, the pivoting portion capable of pivoting with respect to the fixed portion;    a pedal partially disposed inside of the container body and passes through an opening near a bottom surface of the container body;    a pedal mounting member disposed on the bottom surface of the container body, the pedal mounting member including a hinge for pivotally mounting the pedal thereto, the hinge being located at a distance from a side wall of the container body; and    an activation mechanism including: 
 a first wire having a main segment disposed horizontally across a bottom floor of the container body, a first and a second bent segment at each end of the main segment, the second bent segment disposed under the pedal, the first and second bent segments each being disposed at an angle with respect to the bottom floor of the container body, and the first wire being rotateable around the main segment; and  
 a second wire having a main segment disposed vertically along a side wall of the container body, a lower end of the second wire being connected to the first bent segment of the horizontal wire, and an upper end of the second wire having a handle coupled to the pivoting portion of the lid mounting member.