AU704322B3 - Artists' water container - Google Patents

Description

ARTISTS' WATER CONTAINER The invention relates to an improvement in the method of holding a supply of water for use by artists when painting in watercolour, acrylic, aquarelle, gouache, or other types of water-soluble pigments and paints.

000 0*r *0 4 In most cases, artists working with water-soluble e• materials, whether indoors in the studio, or out of doors, use a variety of receptacles to contain water for use in washing brushes and for mixing paints. These typically include glass jars, bowls of china metal or other material, tins, teacups and cut-down plastic bottles.

SThe disadvantages of these types of containers include susceptibility to breakage, bulk, weight and, most Simportant of all, lack of stability, which can lead to overturning and spilling, sometimes spoiling the work.

The present invention overcomes all of these disadvantages by providing a pair of containers which are light in weight, of negligible bulk in comparison to their capacity, unbreakable and whether used on a flat surface, as in the studio, or on an uneven surface as may be the case out of doors, are very difficult to overturn and spill accidentally.

In one form of the invention, water is contained in two identical plastic bags, supported on a stand of wood, plastic, metal, or other material To assist with the understanding of the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which show one form of the invention and its component parts.

0 0*0 In the drawings; Fig 1 shows a perspective view of one form of the complete invention. This comprises two simple sub-assemblies namely the support stand and the water bags.

-Fig 2 shows the components of the support stand subassembly.

Fig 3 shows the components of the water bag sub-assembly.

~~1_11 3 THE SUPPORT STAND comprises two rectangular support plates and a spreader plate which is provided with a hole at each end to accommodate the hanging cord (13) and two lengths of flexible cord and (13).

Each plate is provided with an array of holes e.g.(6) positioned approximately two centimetres below its top edge and parallel to it and of sufficient size and spacing to enable the two plates to be laced together with their spreader support bars facing each other on the inside, by means of the flexible cord each end of which being secured by a simple figure of eight knot.

On the inside face of each of the support plates and is positioned a spreader support bar and After the two plates and have been laced together, Sthe assembly is made rigid by pressing the spreader plate into position above the spreader support bars and The spreader plate is provided with a hole at each end through which the flexible hanging cord (13) is passed and secured at each end with a figure of eight knot, enabling the completed assembly to be hung from the artist's easel when required, or carried easily from place to place, full of water or empty.

THE WATER BAG assembly comprises two transparent plastic bags and one side of each bag being provided with an array of holes e.g.(10) of suitable size to accommodate the joining bar (11) and the other side of each bag cut away in a semi-circle (12) approximately of the width of the bag and having the top of the bag as its axis, thus providing a convenient mouth to facilitate filling the bag with water and access for the artist's brushes.

In using this invention the user fills the bags with water a (14) and places them on top of the support stand so that one bag of water lies on each side of the apex of the stand, Provided that both bags are filled with water, the unit becomes extremely stable in use.

i4 In another form of the invention, the bags and may be formed from one piece of plastic thus eliminating the Sholes and the joining bar. Alternatively, individual bags may be attached to the support stand by means of "VELCRO" or similar material or may be joined to each other by means of a form of spiral binding The lacing of the support plates and may be replaced by a hinge and the spreader plate may be replaced by a strut or pair of struts hinged to one inside face of the plates and secured to the other by a catch or locking device.

The claims defining the invention are as follows: 1. An artists water container comprising a pair of plastic bags supported upon a rigid frame of triangular cross section.

2. An artists water container in accordance with claim 1, wherein the plastic bags are joined and rest either side of an apex of the frame.

3. An artists water container in accordance with claim 1 or 2, wherein the frame is provided with a flexible hanging cord, secured at each end to the frame.

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DATED THIS 4 TH DAY OF MARCH 1999 RONALD CHARLES HAROLD MANSER By his Patent Attorneys LORD COMPANY PERTH, WESTERN AUSTARLIA 0 0