3D Printed Hanging Kitchen Waste Bin

Cleaning up and changing the kitchen waste bin is something that has always bothered me, mainly because there is too much touching involved on it. Most of the times I have to move the waste bin from one place to another; grab the plastic bag from it without letting its contents to spill over; clean its inside whenever there is a leakage; and nicely fit a clean and empty plastic bag in it. I was wondering if there could be an easier way of doing it, crossing out all auxiliar/secondary steps and just going straight to the point: changing the plastic bags. After spending some time doing the puzzles, I came up with this design of a hanging support which can firmly hold the plastic bag and yet allows me to easily and quickly release it from the frame without having to work my butt off for doing it. The frame is fixed on the wall, so there's no moving. The design doesn't have inner walls, so there's no dirtying. For avoiding leakage, I always use two plastic bags (although it can't fully prevent me of cleaning up the floor every once in a while, but has been very effective so far). Although its structure is attached to the wall, its lid is detachable and can be quickly washed whenever needed.

Bill of Material:

• 16 Super Strong Neodymium Magnets sized 6x4mm ( like these ones http://www.aliexpress.com/af/neodymium-magnet-6x4... )
• Super glue (cyanoacrylate) for assembling/mounting printed parts
• Varnish and paint-brush, for sealing printed parts and also making them stronger
• Two small metal hinges for holding the lid
• Double-Sided Tape for fixing the frame on the wall

Step 1: Printing Parts

Open up the package file containing all pieces need to be 3d printed. The package contains all STL files with their original drawing, made with OpenSCAD, so anyone can easily adapt/change/hack/improve anything they want. Most of the parts is composed by two "mirrored" pieces. I designed it that way so I could bypass my printer's printing area restriction (which is lower than 20x20cm) and build a 20x10cm part with it.

Print out:

• 2 units of the "rim_2x.stl";
• 2 units of the "magnet_2x.stl";
• 2 units of the "triangle_2x.stl";
• 2 units of the "back_2x.stl";
• 1 unit of the "lid_piece1.stl"
• 1 unit of the "lid_piece2.stl"

Depending on the quality of your printings, you might need to straighten/smooth the parts' surfaces using a sandpaper. It's important to get their dimensions and edges accurately because most of them will need to fit in each other, just like a puzzle. Do not use the vanish yet.

Step 2: Assembling Parts

With all pieces nicely and meticulously polished on hands, it's time to do all the puzzle. The assembling is pretty trivial.

1. Start by super-gluing the two rim parts. Be careful to not glue your fingertips on it, but make sure you apply enough glue on the pieces' junction for making the resulting piece very strong and firm.
2. Do the same for the two backside parts. I used a binder clip for holding them well aligned together. Wait until the glue is fully dried before moving to the next step.
3. Attach both triangles on the backside part you've just mounted.
4. Stick the rim on the triangles' base, which would also be the top the structure. I used two zip ties strongly tighten to hold them together while left for drying.
5. Insert one neodymium magnet into each hole in the side of the structure and magnet bar. There are six hole in the frame and three more holes on each of the two magnet-bars (printed with magnet_2x.stl). The magnet-bars are supposed to be attachable at the side of the frame and, therefore, hold the plastic bag in it. Very important!!!: pay attention on the magnet poles position, use the same pattern/side of the magnet discs in the frame and in the magnet bars, otherwise they will repel each other instead of attract each other. Once the magnet discs are inside the holes, dispose super-glue on them to make sure they won't ever unleash from the frame.
6. Glue the metal hinges in the inner part of the rim, on the same side you attached the backside part. Check out the pictures and use the same pattern/position.

Again, apply lots of super-glue on every junction to make the frame very rigid. Leave it to fully dry. Once the glue gets rock-solid, vanish the whole frame. That will strengthen the structure and also seal it, making it easier to clean.

Step 3: Hanging It on the Wall

Alright! If you've managed to get to this point, you should be excited about mounting it, which is, of course, the easiest part. Stick double-sided tape to the backside of the frame. You can follow the pattern it's shown in the picture, that made mine rigid enough. Attach it to whatever plain surface you like, but have in mind that you will need some side space for removing the magnet bars, opening up its lid, the bin might leak and don't put it too close to the stove/oven - that's plastic! For the lid, I chose to place some free magnet discs instead of using screws for fixing it. In that way I can easily remove, clean and reattach the lid whenever it gets dirty.

I've been using it for about two weeks now and it's serving well. The next generation for sure will have a case for the free magnets that go on the top of the lid (they are horribly attracted to each-other, which makes it difficult to handle them freely). I'm curious about bringing it into the IoT (Internet of Things). It would be easy to place a liquid(rain) sensor under it in order to dispatch an e-mail whenever there is a leakage. We could also install a distance sensor in the lid, so it could, somehow, estimate the amount of garbage inside of the bin. Ideas, ideas... what would be yours?