Receptacles – Closures – Combined or convertible
Reexamination Certificate
1998-08-19
2001-04-10
Shoap, Allan N. (Department: 3727)
Receptacles
Closures
Combined or convertible
C206S015200, C206S015300, C206S361000, C206S519000, C220S380000, C220S736000, C220S781000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06213329
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the storage of painting implements between uses, and a specific form relates to the storage of paint brushes.
BACKGROUND
It is general practice when painting to clean paint brushes between uses, otherwise paint hardens on the brush and spoils the brush. Additionally it is quite important that the brushes be cleaned very thoroughly, otherwise the useful length of the bristles shortens considerably over time as a result of the build up of paint at the base of the bristles, rendering the paint brush in a progressively poorer condition and resulting in a reduced life of the brush.
Thoroughly cleaning a brush or other painting implement is a time consuming and tedious practice and frustrating where a brush is used for only a short while. Consequently the practice is often not performed satisfactorily.
Cleaning brushes can also be wasteful and polluting, often resulting in compounds that are relatively toxic, such as acrylics, from water based paints ending up in waterways. In the case of solvent based paints the use of solvents for the requisite multiple rinses of the brush is also undesirable because there is the additional problem of the disposal of solvents as well as the expense of purchasing the solvent.
In painting practice using water based paints, it is common to suspend brushes in a water bath keeping the handle free. This practice is unsatisfactory because water soaks into the brush and up the bristles so that when reused, despite vigorous efforts to dry the brush, a paint/water mixture will run down the upturned handle onto the hand of the user.
Additionally where the paint brush is to be transported such as will be the case with a tradesman, it is exceedingly difficult not to have the entire brush fall into the container when travelling between work sites.
It is also not adequate to have the brush sit in a rack that is located at the bottom of the paint container, or a container with water, because the bristles will assume a curved position as a result of resting on the base of the container, which will impact on the usefulness of the brush. Additionally the handle of the brush may be covered at least in part by paint which detracts from the usefulness of such a practice. There is a need for free access to paint within the container so that the suggestion of a rack in the paint container itself is not an effective solution to the problem because access to paint within the container will at least in part be blocked.
A number of devices have been suggested for storage of brushes within paint tins to reduce the burden of cleaning and some of these suggestions are to hold the brush by using the lid. The closest known prior art to the present invention is disclosed in Australian patent specification AU12242/92 in the name of Azoulay. The disclosure of this document relates to a storage container lid with an aperture therethrough so that the handle is gripped within an upwardly extending collar by a resilient insert which can close around the handle of the paint brush. The arrangement of the Azoulay disclosure requires a number of parts which need assembly and is consequently relatively complex in operation and construction.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a holder for a paint brush or other painting implement that obviates the need to wash a paint brush after every use of the paint brush and that obviates or minimises any one of the above problems or at least provides the public with a useful choice.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In a broad form, but not necessarily the broadest or only form, the invention could be said to reside in a
container lid including,
a container engaging periphery,
a lid web extending between the periphery for closure of a fluid containing container,
an handle receiving aperture through the lid web and a gripping means disposed upwardly of the aperture to grip the handle of a painting implement,
the implement gripping means comprising two opposed walls extending upwardly of the lid web, and sides holding the walls in a substantially fixed position relative to one another, the opposed walls resiliently flexible and spaced apart to an extent to exert a clamping effect on the handle.
It is preferred that the lid is integrally formed, and preferably of a plastics material, to minimise the complexity of the container lid and to simplify the manufacture of the container lid. The integral formation might thus be by reason of a moulding in plastics generally from one type of plastics
Preferably the handle gripping means has no aperture therein so that it covers the aperture completely and so that there is no exchange of air to the outside of the lid. That will minimise the extent to which any fluid within the container evaporates and also has the added benefit in case the container is knocked over that the paint inside will not spill. In this form the gripping means provides a surface extending upwardly from the web of the lid, which in addition to gripping the handle of the painting implement also acts as a handle for a user to grasp where desired. The user will grasp the upstanding gripping means from the outside, with the handle of the painting implement being clamped on the inside.
Preferably the sides of the gripping means are tapered upwardly so that several of the lids can be stacked on top of one another.
In one form the opposing walls converge upwardly, so that there is a diminishing distance between the two opposing flat surfaces, which in addition to aiding stacking might also better accommodate varying thicknesses of painting implements.
In preference the opposed walls are spaced apart to an extent that when inserted, the handle urges a portion of each of said opposed walls apart so that the opposed walls exerts a clamping effect on the handle. It is found that generally there will be sufficient clamping pressure on the handle of the painting implement by the opposed walls, however, it may be desirable to supplement the clamping pressure that is exerted by the opposed wall by providing clamp means to apply a clamping pressure to the outside of the opposed walls to supplement the clamping pressure thereon.
Alternatively the opposed side walls might not exert any clamping pressure and all of the pressure is provided by clamping means which apply a clamping pressure to the outside of the opposed walls.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1834085 (1931-12-01), Bloom
patent: 1896463 (1933-02-01), Offerman
patent: 2627276 (1953-02-01), Eggleton
patent: 2654504 (1953-10-01), Hyams
patent: 3085583 (1963-04-01), Siek
patent: 4360119 (1982-11-01), Olivo
patent: 4865188 (1989-09-01), Custeau
patent: 5316399 (1994-05-01), Joulia
patent: 5489042 (1996-02-01), Ewald
patent: 5683009 (1997-11-01), King
patent: 5806704 (1998-09-01), Jamison
patent: 5992617 (1999-11-01), Couch et al.
patent: 92 00055 (1992-01-01), None
APT Patent Attorneys
Eloshway Niki M.
Shoap Allan N.
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