WO 2006/056067 PCT/CA2005/001793 PAINT APPLICATOR SYSTEM FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a paint applicator system which includes an adjustable 5 paint applicator and a paint roller shield. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Residential painting may involve either new construction or repaints of existing homes. New construction painting is typically provided by professionals who are skilled in the art of painting and are continually looking for tools, products and application methods to provide a 10 high quality paint job with a minimum of effort. Occasionally, homeowners will attempt to paint their own new homes. Typically, repaint jobs are attempted by the owner, although many people will employ professionals for these jobs. Many homeowners who have attempted to do their own painting, come to appreciate the skill, tools and time required to do the work properly. 15 Paint rollers are well known which allow relatively quick coverage of large surface areas. To reach ceilings and higher areas, extension in the form of extendible handles are also well known. In some instances, those handles may be pivotably adjustable, as shown in U.S. Patent No. 3,273,192 and No. 5,207,755. Interior surfaces in a house or commercial premises are typically painted using a 20 combination of roller application and brush applications. Paint is brushed on near edges or surfaces which are not to be painted, such as around doorways, windows and ceilings. These surfaces are usually masked with tape to prevent contact with paint. "Cutting in" around these surfaces with a brush is a time-consuming and laborious exercise.
As well, after some use, the pile near the end of a paint roller tends to flare outward, past the end of the roller. As a result, painting near an inside corner or an adjoining trim or moulding is difficult without adding unwanted paint to an adjoining surface. Various devices have been proposed to make this task easier. Simple straight-edge guards 5 used in combination with a brush provides some benefit. It is known to use edge guards in combination with rollers, as seen in US Patent No. 5,444,891. These guards are not as effective as one might hope. If the roller is positioned too close to the guard, paint will build up along the guard and will likely find its way onto the edge or surface which is not to be painted. Alternatively, if the roller is set apart from the edge guard, a uniform painted surface right up to the edge cannot be achieved. 10 Furthermore, these devices cannot be used along irregular surfaces such as textured ceilings and/or other irregular surfaces. Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved paint applicator system which mitigates the difficulties of the prior art. 15 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a paint applicator system comprising a paint roller comprising: a) a hollow cylindrical tube having a paint applying surface and a longitudinal axis; b) a cylindrical end cap being substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the 20 tube and engaging one end of the tube; c) a flexible circular shield disposed between the end cap and said end of the tube, the shield being retained by the end cap; and d) a foam disk disposed adjacent to the shield, wherein the disk and the shield curve away from the paint applying surface. 25 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will now be described by way of an exemplary embodiment with reference to the accompanying simplified, diagrammatic, not-to-scale drawings. In the drawings: Figure I is an illustration of an embodiment of a pivoting joint of the present invention. 30 Figure 2 is a detailed view of one embodiment of the pivoting joint. Figure 3A is a cross-sectional view of the pivoting joint. Figure 3B is a cross-sectional view of two discs, where one disc is slightly dished. Figure 4 is an illustration of a paint roller of the present invention. Figure 5 is a view of a detailed view of an end cap. 35 Figure 6 is a view of an alternative embodiment of the end cap.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides for a novel paint applicator. When describing the present invention, all terms not defined herein have their common art-recognized meanings. The apparatus depicted in the Figures comprises a paint applicator (10) which includes a 5 roller (12), a shaft (14) having a pivoting joint (16) and an elongated handle (18). The handle may be extendible or retractable to vary its length, as is well known in the art. As shown in Figure 1, the roller (12) includes a roller holder (20) upon which a roller sleeve (22) is slidingly affixed, as is well known in the art. The sleeve (22) bears an external textured surface which retains and applies paint, again as is well known in the art. In one embodiment, the surface is a 10 napped surface with between about a 1 % inch to about a 1 inch nap. The small nap rollers are suitable for smooth surfaces such as drywall while the thicker naps are useful for heavily textured surfaces such as brick or concrete surfaces.
5 10 15 (this page is intentionally blank) 20 25 30 35 WO 2006/056067 PCT/CA2005/001793 The shaft (14) and pivoting joint includes a first disc (30) and a second disc (32) which are aligned and joined at their centres by a rivet, or a similar fastener, such that the two discs may rotate relative to each other. The first disc is rigidly attached to a distal portion (14A) of the 5 shaft, while the second disc is rigidly attached to a proximal portion (14B) of the shaft. The first disc defines a plurality of holes (34) along the periphery of the disc. The second disc defines a single opening (36) which may be aligned with any one of the first disc holes by rotating the second disc relative to the first disc. 10 In a preferred embodiment, one or both of the discs may be slightly dished on the side facing the other disc, as shown in Figure 3B. Thus, prior to being fastened together, the two discs are in contact around their periphery, but a small gap exists between their centres. When the two discs are fastened together in the centre, this creates a force biasing the two discs together, which aids in the stability of the pivoting joint, and which adds some friction to the 15 movement between the two. The discs (30) may be fashioned of any suitably rigid and strong material, such as metal or plastic materials as are well known in the art. 20 A locking pin (38) passes through the disk openings (34, 36) which locks the pivoting joint into a set position. Preferably, the diameter of the locking pin closely matches the size of the openings so that there is little play in the pivoting joint. The locking pin is mounted to a resilient strip (40), which is preferably a thin flat piece of resilient metal mounted to the second disc at one end, as shown in Figures 2 and 3. The strip (40) may then be bent by a user such that 25 the locking pin is removed from the openings, permitting adjustment of the pivoting joint. Once the desired position is achieved and the first disc opening and the second disc opening are aligned, the strip may be released to insert the locking pin in the openings. Preferably, a portion of the strip extends beyond the diameter of the discs, permitting easy operation of the strip by a convenient thumb action. Alternatively, or additionally, the locking pin may have a raised head -5- WO 2006/056067 PCT/CA2005/001793 which permits a user to grasp the locking pin and pull the pin out of the openings. The strip (40) is preferably formed from a thin strip of resilient steel. In an alternative embodiment, the strip (40) may be formed of a plastic strip bonded to a metal strip. 5 As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, if the first disc (30) defines 7 holes (34) along a 90 arc of the disc periphery, the pivoting joint (16) may be adjusted to any one of 7 positions. In a central position, the shaft will be straight as if monolithic. The pivoting joint (16) can then be adjusted such that the distal portion (14A) of the shaft is bent up to 450 from the proximal portion (14B) of the shaft. Additional range of motion, and fine adjustment of the 10 pivoting joint may be achieved by providing more openings (34) along a greater arc segment. The roller sleeve (22) described and illustrated herein has a paint applying surface comprising a felt pile (50), as is well known in the art. The roller sleeve (22) comprises an inner tube (52) which is adapted to slide onto the wire cage (20) of a paint roller in a conventional 15 manner. The sleeve comprises an end cap (54) which serves to prevent paint from entering the inner tube (52) and, in this invention, to retain the shield (56). The shield comprises a thin circular disk (56), centered with the longitudinal axis of the roller sleeve. The shield serves as an 20 edge guide when painting up against edges to prevent the pile (50) from contacting the edge and applying unwanted paint. The end cap (54) may snap on the inner tube (52) in a like manner to that described in Canadian Patent 2,003,105, or otherwise engage the inner tube, whereby the shield (56) is 25 retained between the end cap (54) and the inner tube (52). In a preferred embodiment, the shield (56) is comprised of a thin plastic material, less than about 0.5 mm and more preferably less than about 0.1 mm. A thin shield will be somewhat flexible, but should still be rigid enough to act as an effective paint shield in operation. The -6- WO 2006/056067 PCT/CA2005/001793 material used in transparent film, such as those used for overhead projectors, is a suitable material. Other resilient or flexible materials such as rubber or metal may also be used. The diameter of the shield (56) must be less than the uncompressed diameter of the felt paint applying surface (50). In use, the paint applying surface (50) will compress slightly, and it 5 is undesirable than the edge of the shield (56) directly contact the painted surface with much force. It is preferred that the diameter of the shield match the compressed diameter of the felt pile such that in use, the shield barely touches the painted surface, or comes very close to the surface without contact. Because the shield (56) is formed from a circular disk of a thin flexible material, it will 10 assume a slightly conical or convex shape when pressed by the end cap into slightly bevelled opening of the inner tube (14), as shown in Figure 5. Also, the shield may be "flipped" over into a concave shape as shown by the dashed lines in Figure 5. It is preferred that the pile (50) not be cylindrical right to the end of the roller, but is bevelled down towards the end cap, as is shown in Figure 4 and Figure 6. Alternatively or 15 additionally, the pile may end slightly before the shield and end cap, leaving a gap of about 1 mm or less between the edge of the pile and the shield. The sleeve (52) of the present invention may easily be adapted to wire cages with or without an end cap. In an alternative embodiment, a circular foam disk (58) may be provided adjacent to the 20 shield (56), on the inner side of the shield. The foam disk (58) serves to soak up excess paint which migrates towards the shield (56), as well as apply paint as the roller is being used. The foam may of the type typically used in foam paint rollers and foam paint brushes. In one embodiment, the foam disk (58) may be between about 1.5 mm to 2 mm thick, and have a diameter that is substantially the same as the shield (56). The density of the foam and the -7thickness of the disk (58) may be varied according to the viscosity of the paint and other variables known to those skilled in the art. As seen in Figure 6, in a preferred embodiment, the foam disk (58) is compressed in the middle upon insertion of the end cap (54), therefore, the foam disk (58) will assume a slight conical or 5 convex shape similar to the shield (56). As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, various modifications, adaptations and variations of the foregoing specific disclosure can be made without departing from the scope of the invention claimed herein. The various features and elements of the described invention may be combined in a manner different from the combinations described or claimed herein, without departing 10 from the scope of the invention. Throughout this specification the word "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps. 15 All publications mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated by reference. Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in the present specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention as it existed in Australia or 20 elsewhere before the priority date of each claim of this application.