EP2251210A1

EP2251210A1 - Device for squeezing a paint tool

Info

Publication number: EP2251210A1
Application number: EP10162319A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Alessandro Nespoli
Original assignee: Nespoli Engineering KKFT
Current assignee: Nespoli Engineering KKFT
Priority date: 2009-05-11
Filing date: 2010-05-07
Publication date: 2010-11-17
Anticipated expiration: 2030-05-07
Also published as: ATE536267T1; IT1394062B1; EP2251210B1; ITMI20090797A1; ES2379050T3

Abstract

A device (1) for squeezing a paint tool comprises a mesh (2) against which a paint tool can be pressed to remove excess paint. The mesh (2) has a concave shape and defines side walls, from which supports (5) extend, suitable for constraining the device (1) to the lips of a container (7) containing the paint to be applied. The device (1) also has a continuous surface (9) that extends from an edge (10) inserted between the side walls.

Description

The present invention refers to a device for squeezing a paint tool.
As is known, when surfaces have to be painted, paint is usually taken and diluted, typically with water, inside a container.
Then painting is carried out by immerging a roller or paintbrush in the container containing the diluted paint so as to impregnate it with paint.
Before passing the roller or paintbrush on the surface to be painted it is usually necessary to squeeze it in order to remove the excess paint that has been soaked up and avoid an excessive amount of paint be released during painting, which could run, and also avoid drops of paint falling from the roller or paintbrush while it is taken from the container to the wall being painted.
In this regard, meshes are currently used that have a square shape and are placed on top of the container or in special trays; the roller or paintbrush is passed over and pressed against this mesh so that excess paint falls into the underlying container or tray.
However, traditional meshes present several drawbacks.
In particular, it is often necessary to pass the roller or paintbrush against the mesh a large number of times before the desired amount of paint is removed; this implies the risk of dirtying due to paint dripping from the roller or paintbrush.
In addition, traditional meshes cannot be connected in a stable manner to the bucket or tray and often these meshes move or shift from their position during use and must be held by hand (when the roller or paintbrush is passed against them); it is obvious that this limits the user's operativeness.
The technical function that the present invention proposes is therefore providing a device for squeezing a paint tool that allows the technical drawbacks complained about in the known art to be eliminated.
Within the scope of this technical function, one object of the invention is to provide a device allowing the desired amount of paint to be removed from the roller or paintbrush by passing the same roller or paintbrush against the device a limited number of times.
Another object of the invention is to embody a device that can be constrained in a firm and steady manner to a bucket containing paint.
The technical function, as well as this and other objects, according to the present invention, are achieved through the embodiment of a device according to claim 1. Other features of the present invention are also defined in the subsequent claims. In a particular embodiment of the device according to the invention, its supports are elastically deformable.
In a particular embodiment, the device according to the invention is made as a single element of a plastic material.
The device according to the invention usefully guarantees greater freedom for the user since it is provided with holders to which rollers or paintbrushes can be fixed when not being used.
In this regard, the device is equipped with a mesh and a continuous surface, with the holders positioned on the edge of the continuous surface so that when the roller or paintbrush is hung on the holders and another roller or paintbrush is squeezed (by pressing it against the device), the paint that falls does not daub the roller or paintbrush hung on the holders.
Further features and advantages of the invention shall become clearer from the description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of the invention, shown by non-limiting way of example in the enclosed drawings, where:

Figure 1 shows a front perspective view of a device according to the present invention fitted to a paint container,
Figure 2 shows a rear perspective view of a device according to the present invention fitted to a paint container,
Figure 3 shows a front perspective view of the invented device,
Figure 4 shows a rear perspective view of the invented device,
Figure 5 shows a paint roller that can be used with a device according to the invention, and
Figure 6 shows a side view, partially in section along the plane A-A, of the device in Figure 1.

With reference to the mentioned figures, a device is shown for squeezing a paint tool and indicated as whole by reference numeral 1.
The device 1 comprises a mesh 2 against which the paint tool (preferably a roller, although the device according to the invention can nevertheless be used along with paintbrushes) can be pressed to remove excess paint.
The mesh 2 has a concave shape and defines side walls 4 equipped with one or more openings (a single, large-sized opening in the example); alternatively, the side walls 4 can also be closed.
Supports 5, suitable for constraining the device to the lips of a container 7 containing the paint to be applied, extend from the side walls 4.
In addition, the device 1 also has a continuous surface 9 that extends from an edge 10 of the mesh 2 inserted between the side walls 4. Furthermore, as shall become clearer further on, the continuous surface 9 usefully extends for a width LP equal or greater than the length LR of the roller to be squeezed with the device 1 (Figures 3, 5).
The mesh 2 is substantially U-shaped and the continuous surface 9 extends from one end of the U.
As shown in the Figures, the U-shaped mesh 2 has flared or stretched ends and the end of the U from which the continuous surface 9 extends is aligned with the portion of continuous surface 9 that is connected to it.
Preferably, the U-shaped mesh 2 is shaped like an arc of a circle and the continuous surface 9 has a curved profile.
The concave mesh 2 internally defines a seat 12 prepared to accept the roller RU or other paint device to be pressed (Figures 5, 6).
Preferably, the concave seat 12 has a radius of curvature RS equal or greater than the radius of the roller RU to be pressed, where this radius is measured when the roller RU is substantially dry, not impregnated with paint and substantially undeformed.
Preferably, the concave seat 12 has a depth H equal or greater than at least one third of the diameter D of the roller RU to be pressed and, more preferably, the depth H is equal or greater than at least half the diameter D: this allows the sides of the roller RU to be adequately encircled and to squeeze it better and more quickly. To this end, the radius of curvature RS of the seat 12 is preferably not greater than 1.2 times the radius of the roller RU to be pressed.
The continuous surface 9 has a plurality of protuberances 13 that project from its surface and that have an elongated shape oriented with one end 14 facing towards the mesh 2 and closer to a central transversal axis 18 with respect to the other end 17.
In this way, the paint released on the continuous surface 9 is directed towards the middle of the same continuous surface 9.
Furthermore, the protuberances 13 prevent the roller from sliding and, in practice, ensure that when the roller is passed against the wall 13, it rotates in a manner such that all of its surface is squeezed and the excess paint is removed in a uniform manner.
Holders 20 able to hold a roller or paintbrush project from a free edge 19 of the continuous surface 9, close to a part opposite to that where the mesh 2 is positioned.
An edge 21 of the mesh 2, opposite to the edge 10 from which the continuous surface 9 extends, is thicker.
The supports 5 are defined by profiles having an inverted L shape.
In addition, locking elements 26, for example, shaped like hooks or projections able to engage on the lips of the container 7, are provided on the side of the supports 5 facing the respective wall 4 and close to the free end of each support 5. Wings 25 that have free ends set apart from the corresponding side wall 4 project from the ends of the supports 5; they provide grip points for opening the supports 5 and disengaging them from the lips of the container 7 (when the device 1 is constrained to the container 7 and must be removed from it).
Advantageously, the supports 5 are elastically flexible and the device is made entirely in a single element in a plastic material.
The particular shape of the supports 5, together with the locking elements 26, allows the device 1 to be firmly kept on the container 7 during use.
To facilitate the draining of paint squeezed onto the continuous surface 9, the device 1 is usefully arranged such that during use, when it is rested on the open lips 70 of the container 7 containing the paint to be applied, the continuous surface 9 has an inclination α equal or greater than 45° and, more preferably, equal or greater than 70°, where the inclination α is measured with reference to the plane on which the open lips 70 of the container 7 lie (Figure 6). The supports 5 and/or the wings 25 and/or the edge 21 are suitable shaped for this purpose.
The operation of the device according to the invention appears evident from that described and illustrated and, in particular, is substantially the following.
Paint is poured into the container 7 beforehand and is mixed with a solvent (normally water).
Then the device 1 is applied to the lips of the container 7, which has a square or rectangular shape, with open edges bent to define wide channels 30.
Thanks to the supports and the locking elements, the device according to the invention can usefully be applied to a generic container having a square or rectangular shape.
The device 1 is applied with the supports 5 that engage the channels 30 and fasten on them thanks to their elastic properties, their shape and the presence of the locking elements 26.
Removal of the device 1 is straightforward, as it is facilitated by the wings 25. During use, the roller or paintbrush can be rolled or made to slide in contact with the continuous surface 9 up to the mesh 2; the roller can be pressed in correspondence to the mesh 2 to optimize the amount of paint that remains on the roller.
The paint removed from the roller runs along the continuous surface 9 and (guided by the protuberances 13) runs to the centre of the same continuous surface 9; this prevents the paint from falling at the sides of the continuous surface 9 with the risk of dirtying the supports 5, the container 7 or the floor.
The paint passes from the continuous surface 9 into the mesh 2 (preferentially close to the central zone) and, from here, the paint falls through the openings in the mesh 2 and into the container 2.
Naturally, when the roller is squeezed against the mesh 2, the paint falls directly into the container 7.
The device according to the invention is extremely efficient because it is equipped with a part (the continuous surface 9) on which the roller or paintbrush can be made to roll or be brushed (while being pressed against the same continuous surface 9), and a part (the mesh 2) in which the roller can be pressed, obtaining a very efficient squeezing action.
The squeezing action of the roller in the mesh 2 is very efficient because the mesh 2, thanks to its particular profile, is able to embrace and therefore squeeze a large portion of the roller.
A roller can be duly squeezed in a correct and efficient manner by passing it only two times over the continuous surface 9 and on the mesh 2 (so as to treat two roller sections of at least 180 degrees).
In addition, the rollers or paintbrushes that are not being used can be fixed to the holders 20 and can be left suspended inside the container 7 so that any drips do not dirty the floor, but fall inside the container 7; in this regard, the continuous surface 9 and the protuberances 13 that direct the paint prevent the paint removed from the roller or paintbrush from falling and dirtying the rollers or paintbrushes hung below the continuous surface 5.
In practice, it has been ascertained that the device according to the invention is particularly useful because it allows a roller or paintbrush to be squeezed in an efficient manner and, in addition, guarantees high freedom of action for the user, who does not need to hold the mesh with one hand while using it.
In addition, the user is freed from the chore of directly holding the rollers or paintbrushes not being used in one hand or of adequately positioning them.
The so-conceived device is open to numerous modifications and variants, all falling within the scope of the inventive concept; furthermore, all details can be substituted by technically equivalent elements.
In practice, the materials used, as well as the dimensions, can be of any type, according to the requirements and the state of the art.

Claims

Device (1) for squeezing a paint tool comprising a mesh (2) against which said paint tool can be pressed to remove excess paint, characterized in that said mesh (2) has a concave shape and forms side walls (4) from which supports (5) extend that are suitable for constraining said device to the lips of a container (7) containing the paint to be applied, said device (1) also having a continuous surface (9) that extends from an edge (10) inserted between said side walls (4).
Device (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that said side walls (4) are provided with one or more openings.
Device (1) according to one or more of the previous claims, characterized in that said mesh (2) is substantially U-shaped in cross-section and the continuous surface (9) extends from one end of the U.
Device (1) according to one or more of the previous claims, characterized in that said U has flared or diverging ends.
Device (1) according to one or more of the previous claims, characterized in that the end of said U is aligned with the portion of the continuous surface (9) that is connected to it.
Device (1) according to one or more of the previous claims, characterized in that a central portion of said U-shaped mesh is shaped like an arc of a circle.
Device (1) according to one or more of the previous claims, characterized in that said continuous surface has a curved profile.
Device (1) according to one or more of the previous claims, characterized in that said continuous surface has a plurality of protuberances (13) that project from its surface.
Device (1) according to one or more of the previous claims, characterized in that said protuberances (13) have an elongated shape and are oriented with one end towards the mesh and closer to a central transversal axis with respect to the other end.
Device (1) according to one or more of the previous claims, characterized in that holders able to hold a roller or paintbrush project from a free edge of said continuous surface (9), in correspondence to a part opposite to that where the mesh is located.
Device (1) according to one or more of the previous claims, characterized by comprising a thickened edge in correspondence to an edge (21) of said mesh opposite to the edge (10) from which the continuous surface (9) extends.
Device (1) according to one or more of the previous claims, characterized in that said supports (5) are formed by profiles having an inverted L shape.
Device (1) according to one or more of the previous claims, characterized in that a free end of the inverted L-shaped supports (5) is folded towards the corresponding side wall (4).
Device (1) according to one or more of the previous claims, characterized in that locking elements (26) able to engage on the lips of a container are provided in correspondence to the side of the supports (5) facing the respective wall and in correspondence to the free end of each support.
Device (1) according to one or more of the previous claims, characterized in that wings (25) having free ends that are set apart from the corresponding side wall (4) extend from the end of said L-shaped supports (5).