EP0695238A1

EP0695238A1 - Scraper plate for a tool, such as a roller

Info

Publication number: EP0695238A1
Application number: EP94913225A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Sven-Eric Pars
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1993-04-20
Filing date: 1994-03-18
Publication date: 1996-02-07
Also published as: RU2114744C1; SE9301288D0; LV11297B; PL173115B1; NO301411B1; NO954172D0; FI954998A; CA2160807A1; AU6546394A; NO954172L; CZ272095A3; CZ283135B6; SE500130C2; LV11297A; WO1994023958A1; FI954998A0; PL311199A1; SE9301288L

Abstract

A scraper plate for evenly distributing paint being taken up from a receptacle, into a roller tool, the plate being longer than the receptacle and having a lower part that is narrower than the receptacle and an upper part that is wider than the lower part. In the lower part of the plate there is an opening (16) permitting through-flow of paint from the one side of the plate to the other side. The upper part (10) of the plate has a length amounting to 50 to 100 % of the length of the lower part (9) and having side flanges (11, 11') extending in an angle to the plane of the plate in order to form side delimitations. Ribs (14) are provided over the whole upper part (10) and the upper portion of the lower part (9), which ribs form wiping elements for excess paint and simultaneously stiffen the plate.

Description

SCRAPER PLATE FOR A TOOL, SUCH AS A ROLLER

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a scraper plate for evenly distributing a liquid, in particular paint, into a tool, for instance a roller, which paint is taken up into the tool from a storage receptacle, the plate having a length which is larger than the height of the receptacle and having on the one hand a lower part whose width is smaller than the diameter or the largest cross-sectional dimension of the receptacle and on the other hand an upper part, the lower part of the plate having one or several openings permitting a through-flow of liquid from the one side of the plate to the other.

Technical Background

So called rollers or roller tools are frequently used by, e.g., professional painters for the application of paint on surfaces of all sorts. The task of the roller tool is to take up a suitable amount of paint out of a storage receptacle and thereafter to evenly coat the surface in question by rolling the rolling part of the tool. One difficulty in connection with this work is to get the paint evenly distributed in the rolling part of the tool in connection with the taking up or the sucking up of the paint. With the aim of coping with this difficulty, a number of different scraper plates have been suggested in the patent literature, which scraper plates have the purpose of allowing a wiping of excessive paint out of the roller, while attaining an evenly distributed paint dose in the roller before painting the surface in question.

Thus, in US 4 145 789 a known scraper plate is disclosed which corresponds to the preamble, having the form of a simple plate which at its lower part has a multitude of small holes permitting a through-flow of paint between the opposite sides of the plate when it is inserted into a paint bucket. The upper part of the plate which protrudes out of the bucket, is formed in such a way that it extends outwardly from the lower part to form hook-like portions which can be placed on the upper edge of the paint bucket in order to keep the plate in place. A theoretical advantage of this scraper plate is that it is intended to be capable of being used directly in the very paint bucket, i.e., without the necessity of any special paint receptacle. However, this advantage is just theoretical. Thus, the upper part of the plate is so short that no effective wiping and distribution is made possible when the plate is installed into an unconsumed, full paint pot. Another disadvantage of this known scraper plate is that the surface of the plate is wholly smooth. In the cases where the rolling part of the tool turns the slightest stiffly in relation to its suspension, this often being the case in practice, then the rolling part will only slide when it is moved along the plate, without rolling, which implies that neither wiping nor distribution of paint will be brought about.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention aims at obviating the above mentioned inconveniences of the previously known scraper plate and provide a scraper plate that works in a satisfactory way, independently of the level of the paint or liquid mass in the receptacle. Thus, a primary object of the invention is to provide a scraper plate that permits an effective wiping and distribution of a liquid in a roller or similar working tool which liquid has been taken up from a storage receptacle, also when the receptacle is completely filled with the liquid. A parallel object of the invention is to provide a scraper plate which manages to fulfil this task without any substantial risk of the wiped off excess liquid or paint pouring out on the side of the receptacle. A further object is to provide a scraper plate which lets itself being held firmly in the paint and liquid receptacles in question, in a suitable position for wiping and distribution of liquid. According to the invention, at least the primary object is attained by the features as defined in the characterizing clause of claim 1. Further, prefered embodiments of the invention are defined in the dependent claims.

Further Elucidation of Prior Art

In US 2 893 030 a scraper plate is disclosed which is directly applicable into a paint pot and which comprises a plurality o.f protrusions forming a type of raised pattern against which paint can be wiped off. However, also in this case the length of the plate is not significantly larger than the height of the paint pot, which implies that no paint wiping is feasible when the pot is filled with paint. Moreover, in this case the plate lacks any form of a paint pervious opening that permits a communication between the back side and the front side. Of natural reasons, the plate also lacks paint-guiding side flanges. Similar short scraper plates are also disclosed in FR 1 077 881 and US 2 705 334.

In FR 1 299 041 a scraper plate is disclosed with an upper part that sticks out above the upper edge of the pot when the plate is placed in a paint pot . However, in this case the upper part is considerably narrower than the lower part as well as the rolling part, to a roller tool adapted thereto, and has the sole task of serving as a holder for the roller tool when this is not used.

Brief Description of the Appended Drawings

In the drawings FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the scraper plate according to the invention, shown placed in a paint pot or receptacle which has been cut for reasons of clarity; FIG. 2 is a front view of the plate only; and FIG. 3 is a side view of the plate according to Fig. 2.

Detailed Description of a Prefered Embodiment of the Invention

In Fig. 1, reference numeral 1 generally designates a scraper plate according to the invention, 2 a paint pot and 3 a roller tool which in the usual way comprises a handle-carrying frame part 4 and a rolling part 5 which is rotatable in relation to the frame part, the envelope surface of the rolling part being clad with some sort of a liquid-sucking or absorbing covering, such as textile fibres, foam-rubber or similar. In a conventional manner, paint pot 2 is cylindrical and composed of a round bottom 6 and a cylindrical wall part 7. An upper edge 8 on the cylinder wall 7 delimits an upper opening which gives access to the paint content of the pot, after the removal of a conventional lid (not shown) .

The plate 1 has a lower part 9 whose width is smaller than the diameter or the largest cross- sectional dimension of the paint receptacle 2, and an upper part 10 whose width is larger than the width of the lower part 9 and which on either side has portions 11, 11' protruding laterally relative to lower part 9 in the form of side flanges which down in their lower parts have hook-formed portions 12, 12' which are separated from lower part 9 by slots 13, 13'. These two side flanges 11, 11' are curved in an angle, for instance within the range 90 to 135°, in relation to the plane of the plate, thus forming lateral limitations for the guiding of possible down-running paint or liquid as well as for the rolling part 5 of the roller tool. The bottoms of slots 13, 13' form abutments or stops which may be placed against the upper edge 8 of the paint receptacle, the tips 12, 12' engaging over the outside of said upper edge. According to a characteristic feature of the invention, upper part 10 of the plate has a length that amounts to 50 to 100 %, preferably 60 to 80 %, of the length of lower part 9, i.e., the length that substantially corresponds to the height of paint receptacle 2. Thus, in practice the upper part 10 of the plate will stick out from the upper edge of the paint receptacle by a portion which is at least equal to half the height of the paint receptacle.

According to another essential feature of the inventive concept, the scraper plate comprises ribs or ridges 14 known per se over substantially the whole of its upper part 10 and at least the upper portion of its lower part, which ribs or ridges stand out a bit from the surface of the plate, partly for attending to the wiping of paint from rolling part 5, partly also for effecting the grasp between the plate and rolling part 5 so that this part is safely put into rotation when it is moved along the scraper plate. At the same time, these ribs stiffen the scraper plate since they extend obliquely relative to the longitudinal axis of the plate. More specifically, as is best seen in Fig. 2 the ribs 14 are arranged into two substantially inverted sets in which each individual rib extends obliquely downwards and inwards from an upper end in the proximity of the pertaining side flange 11, 11' to a lower end in the proximity of the centre of the plate. The ribs in these two rib sets are mutually separated, forming a central, longitudinally extending groove 15 through which excess paint may run back into receptacle 2. According to a particularly prefered embodiment of the invention, at least one rib 14' in each set of ribs, e.g., some of the lower ribs is formed with such a length that it will extend upwards along a pertaining side flange 11, 11' in order to stop paint which is possibly running downwards along the side flange and guide it in a direction towards the middle of the plate and down into the receptacle. Furthermore, these prolonged, paint-stopping ribs 14' also stiffen the pertaining side flanges 11, 11' . Lower part 9 of the plate is provided with a recess 16 which is delimited between two fork-like protruding tongues 17, 17' , either of which being formed with a bend or a bend notch 18, 18' which forms a transposition between on the one hand an upper tongue portion 19 or 19' respectively, in the plane of the plate, and on the other hand a lower tongue portion 20 or 20' respectively, which may be placed against bottom 6 of the receptacle and which externally has a rounded or bow-formed edge 21 or 21' respectively, intended for abutment and support against the inside of cylindrical wall 7 that extends upwards from bottom 6 of the receptacle. When the scraper plate is placed in the paint receptacle, recess 16 forms an opening through which paint may flow freely from the back side to the front side of the plate, as the paint level in the receptacle sinks.

The advantages of the invention should be obvious. By the fact that the upper part of the scraper plate sticks out a considerable bit from the paint receptacle, the upper part with its scraping and grasping elements in the form of ribs will provide a wiping plane that is sufficiently long for bringing about an efficient wiping and distribution of paint, also in the case when receptacle 2 is completely filled with paint. At the same time, side flanges 11, 11' form effective lateral guides not only for the rolling part of the roller tool, but also for paint that will possibly run downwards over the scraper plate, the scraper ribs being prolonged so that they also extend across the respective side flange guaranteeing that all paint will safely run back into the paint receptacle. Of course, also the other obliquely extending ribs contribute to this re-guiding function, each of which ribs guiding the down-running paint in a direction towards the middle of the plate and down into the receptacle via the central groove 15. By tongues 17, 17', whose shape has been adapted to the cylindrical form of the paint receptacle, in combination with hooks 12, 12' on side flanges 11, 11' , the scraper plate will be safely held in its position of protruding out of the receptacle also when a considerable pressing force is transferred to the upper part of the plate by the roller tool.

In practice, the described scraper plate may advantageously be made of plastic, although also other materials are feasible, such as aluminum or other metals in the form of sheetings. Although the invention has been described above in connection with the distribution of just paint in just a roller tool, it is also applicable for other similar purposes. As an example, precisely roller tools are used for the application of glue on wall-paper and also in this case the described scraper plate is usable. Moreover, the plate may be used for the wiping of paint or any other liquid from other tools than just roller tools, for instance tools of the type which comprises a non-rotatable foam-rubber plate.

Claims

1. A scraper plate for evenly distributing a liquid, in particular paint, in a tool, for instance a roller, which liquid is taken up by the tool out of a storage receptacle (2) , the plate (1) having a length that is larger than the height of the receptacle and comprising a lower part (9) whose width is smaller than the diameter or the largest cross-sectional dimension of the receptacle (2) , and an upper part (10) , the lower part (9) having one or several openings (16) permitting a through-flow of liquid from one side of the plate to the other, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the upper part (10) of the plate, which part sticks out of the receptacle (2) , has a length amounting to 50 to 100 %, suitably 60 to 80 %, of the length of the lower part (9) and comprises side flanges (11, 11') along its opposite longitudinal edges, which side flanges extend in an angle to the plane of the plate in order to form lateral delimitations for guiding the liquid and/or the tool, and that the plate comprises ribs or ridges (14) which are known per se. over substantially its whole upper part and at least the upper portion of its lower part (9) , which ribs or ridges stand out a bit from the surface of the plate and serve as wiping elements for the removal of excess liquid from the tool, at the same time as they stiffen the plate.

2. Scraper plate according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the ribs (14) are arranged into two substantially inverted sets in which each individual rib extends obliquely downwards and inwards from an upper end in the proximity of the pertaining side flange (11, 11') to a lower end in the proximity of the centre of the plate.

3. Scraper plate according to claim 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the ribs (14) in the two rib sets are mutually separated, forming a central, longitudinally extending groove (15) through which excess liquid may run back into the receptacle.

4. Scraper plate according to claim 2 or 3, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that at least one rib (14') in each of the two sets of ribs extends upwards along a pertaining side flange (11, 11') in order to stop liquid which is possibly running downwards along the side flange and guide it in a direction towards the middle of the plate and down into the receptacle.

5. Scraper plate according to any of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the through-flow opening for liquid in the lower part (9) of the plate has the form of a lower recess (16) between two fork-like protruding tongues (17, 17'), either of which having a bend or a bend notch (18, 18') which forms a transposition between on the one hand an upper tongue portion (19, 19') and on the other hand a lower tongue portion (20, 20') which may be placed against the bottom (6) of the receptacle (2) and which externally has a rounded or bow-formed edge (21, 21') intended for abutment and support against the inside of the cylindrical wall (7) that extends upwards from the bottom (6) of the receptacle.

6. Scraper plate according to any of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the upper part (10) of the plate has a width that is larger than the width of the lower part (9) and which on either side has portions (11, 11') protruding laterally relative to the lower part which portions form suitably hook-like parts (12, 12') that can be placed against an upper edge (8) on the receptacle for keeping the plate in the desired position relative to the receptacle.