EP3439458A1

EP3439458A1 - Multi-purpose can

Info

Publication number: EP3439458A1
Application number: EP16714423.7A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Karin Schaffer
Original assignee: Husqvarna AB
Current assignee: Husqvarna AB
Priority date: 2016-04-05
Filing date: 2016-04-05
Publication date: 2019-02-13
Also published as: WO2017174117A1; CN108712859A; TW201735774A

Abstract

The invention relates to a multi-purpose can comprising a main body (2) and a handle (3) coupled with said main body (2), said main body (2) comprising a bottom portion (2.1) adapted to place the can (1) at a storing surface and an edge (2.2) at the upper side of the can (1), wherein the edge (2.2) comprises a straight edge portion (4) forming a shovel edge and wherein at least one liquid dispensing portion (5, 5') is provided at said edge (2.2), said liquid dispensing portion (5, 5') being adapted to enable a focussed dispensing of liquid received within said main body (2).

Description

Multi-purpose can

The present invention relates generally to the field of multi- purpose tools. More specifically, the present document discloses a multi-purpose can adapted to be used for water dispensing as well as shovelling.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Watering cans are known which comprise a liquid receiving portion and a spout for focussed water dispensing. In addition, hand-shovels or dustpans are known, which can be used for shov^¬ elling of stuff e.g. soil, dirt etc.

Disadvantageously, multiple hand tools are necessary for water^¬ ing and shovelling which is detrimental in view of storage space and costs. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an objective of the embodiments of the present invention to provide a multi-purpose can which can be used as watering can as well as for shovelling. The objective is solved by the fea- tures of the independent claim. Preferred embodiments are given in the dependent claims. If not explicitly indicated otherwise, embodiments of the invention can be freely combined with each other . According to an aspect, the invention relates to a multi-purpose can. The can comprises a main body and a handle coupled with said main body. Said handle may be integrally formed at said main body. The main body comprises a bottom portion adapted to place the can at a storing surface and a side wall portion pro- truding from said bottom portion. Said bottom portion and the side wall portion confines an interior space for receiving liq^¬ uid, soil etc. An edge is provided at the upper side of the can, specifically at the upper side of the side wall portion. Said edge comprises a edge portion forming a shovel edge. In a possi^¬ ble embodiment that edge portion is formed as a straight edge portion to ease its use as a shovel. In addition, at least one liquid dispensing portion is provided at said edge, said liquid dispensing portion being adapted to enable a focussed dispensing of liquid received within said main body.

Said multi-purpose can is advantageous because it can be used as watering can for dispensing water as well as for shovelling of soil, dirt etc. Thus, only a single hand tool is necessary for both applications thereby saving storage space and costs.

According to embodiments, said edge portion is arranged opposite to the handle (with respect to a vertical axis of the can) .

Thereby, an improved handling is possible because the edge por- tion can be placed e.g. on the floor for using the can as a dustpan and the handle used for holding the can is distanced from said floor. While being put to the ground the edge portion usually forms a significantly similar structure or form than the ground itself and thus eases its use as a dustpan, in particular if the edge portion is construed thin and/or flexible. In a pos^¬ sible embodiment the edge portion is formed as a straight edge portion .

According to embodiments, said edge portion extends across the whole or essentially the whole width of the can. In other words, the main body comprises a front portion including said edge por^¬ tion which spans the whole or essentially the whole width of the can. Thereby an increased shovelling area is obtained. In a pos^¬ sible embodiment that front portion is formed as a planar front portion. According to embodiments, the liguid dispensing portion is ar^¬ ranged adjacent to said edge portion. So, by a diagonally tilt^¬ ing of the can said water dispensing is obtained.

According to embodiments, the liguid dispensing portion is ar^¬ ranged in a corner region between said edge portion and a lat^¬ eral edge portion. Thus, the liguid dispensing portion does not impede shovelling operation and water dispensing is possible by a customary tilting of the can.

According to embodiments, said liguid dispensing portion is formed by a bulge provided at the edge. Said bulge may protrude outwardly thereby forming a convex liguid dispensing portion. Said bulge enables a water dispensing focussed on a certain wa^¬ tering area.

According to embodiments, the can comprises a pair of liguid dispensing portions, said liguid dispensing portions being ar- ranged at opposite sides of the edge portion. In other words, the liguid dispensing portions are arranged at the front edge portion and spaced from each other by said edge portion. Using a pair of liguid dispensing portions which are arranged at a dis^¬ tance to each other, liguid dispensing is possible by a diago- nally tilting to the left front side or right front side.

According to embodiments, the main body comprises a cup-like or vase-like shape. The main body may comprise an upper opening, said upper opening spanning over the whole cross section of the main body. Thereby an improved filling of liguid into the inte^¬ rior space of the main body as well as an improved removal of soil or dirt from said interior space is possible. In addition, the interior space can be used for storing further hand tools, like hand trowels, secateurs etc. According to embodiments, the main body comprises a conical shape widening towards the upper side of the can. Thereby, the opening of the main body at the upper side is increased which improves the usage of the can as a shovel.

According to embodiments, the height of the main body in the ar^¬ ea of the edge portion is greater than in the area of the han^¬ dle. Thereby, when placing the edge portion on a surface for shovelling operation, the edge portion protrudes over the upper side of the handle which ensures an improved shovelling opera^¬ tion .

According to embodiments, the handle comprises a cavity, said cavity opening towards the upper side of the can. Said cavity can be used for storing of tools or for inserting at least a portion of tools into the cavity for arranging said tools at the can .

According to embodiments, said can is integrally formed as a one-piece element. For example, the can may be a single-piece plastic element and may be manufactured by injection molding.

The term "essentially" or "approximately" as used in the inven^¬ tion means deviations from the exact value by +/- 10%, prefera- bly by +/- 5% and/or deviations in the form of changes that are insignificant for the function.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The various aspects of the invention, including its particular features and advantages, will be readily understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings, in which : Fig. 1 illustrates an example embodiment of a multi-purpose can in a perspective view;

Fig. 2 illustrates an example embodiment of a multi-purpose can in a side view; and

Fig. 3 illustrates an example embodiment of a multi-purpose can in a top view.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described more fully with ref^¬ erence to the accompanying drawings, in which example embodi^¬ ments are shown. However, this invention should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Throughout the following description similar reference numerals have been used to denote similar elements, parts, items or features, when ap^¬ plicable .

Fig. 1 to fig. 3 show different views of an example embodiment of a multi-purpose can 1. Said can 1 is adapted to be used for shovelling, e.g. soil, dirt etc. and for watering of flowers, for example. The can 1 comprises a main body 2 and a handle 3 being coupled with said main body 2. For example, the handle 3 may be coupled with the main body 2 only at an upper handle por- tion, i.e. the lower handle portion forms a free end of the han- dle 3.

The main body 2 comprises a vase- or cup-like shape. More in de^¬ tail, the main body 2 comprises a bottom wall portion 2.1 and a side wall portion 2.3 protruding from said bottom wall portion 2.1. At the top side, an opening 2.4 is provided, which prefera^¬ bly extends across the whole or essentially the whole upper cross section of the can 1. The side wall portion 2.3 may cir- cumferentially confine an interior space 2a of the can 1, said interior space 2a being adapted to receive a liguid or the shov- elled stuff. The bottom wall portion 2.1 may provide a planar support portion in order to place the can 1 on a storing surface, e.g. the ground, a window board etc. In the vertical di^¬ rection, the main body 2 may comprise a tapered or conical shape. For example, the main body 2 may expand towards the open^¬ ing 2.4 of the can 1.

At the upper side, the main body 2 comprises an edge 2.2. Said edge 2.2 may be a circumferential edge surrounding the main body 2 at the upper side. The edge 2.2 comprises a straight edge por^¬ tion 4 and lateral edge portions 2.2a, 2.2b being arranged be^¬ tween said straight edge portion 4 and the handle 3. Based on said straight edge portion 4, the can 1 is adapted to be placed at the ground in order to shovel soil or dirt. For example, the side wall portion 2.3 beneath said straight edge portion 4 is planar or essentially planar in order to use the can 1 as a dustpan. In addition, the can 1 is adapted to be moved along the straight edge portion 4 in order to push soil or dirt into the interior space 2a of the main body 2.

As shown in Fig. 2, the edge 2.2 of the main body 2 is slanted with respect to a vertical axis of the can 1. In other words, the main body 2 comprises different heights in the area of the straight edge portion 4 and the handle 2. The main body 2 may comprise a first height hi in the area of the straight edge por^¬ tion 4 and a second height h2 in the area of the handle 2, wherein hi > h2. Due to the slanted upper side of the can 1, wa^¬ ter dispensing as well as shovelling is simplified. In order to enable a focussed water dispensing, the main body comprises at least one, in the present embodiment two liguid dispensing portions 5, 5' . Said liguid dispensing portions 5, 5' are provided at the edge 2.2 of the main body 2. More in detail, said liguid dispensing portions 5, 5' are formed by bulges pro- vided at the side wall portion 2.3 in direct proximity to the edge 2.2. Said liquid dispensing portions 5, 5' may be arranged in upper corner regions of the main body 2 opposite to the han^¬ dle 3 and may form spouts in said corner regions. The liquid dispensing portions 5, 5' may be arranged between the straight edge portion 4 and the lateral edge portion 2.2a, 2.2b. By tilt^¬ ing the can 1 in the direction of one of the liquid dispensing portions 5, 5' (i.e. diagonally forward), liquid received within the interior space 2a of the main body 2 can be dispensed in a focussed way. Thus, the can 1 is adapted to be used as watering can as well as for shovelling.

The handle 3 may comprise a cavity 3.1 which is open at the top side. Thus, the cavity 3.1 can be used for storing of further tools, e.g. hand tools like trowels, secateurs, hand brushes etc. Said hand tools can also be received within the interior space 2a of the main body 2.

Preferably, said can 1 is manufactured as a one-piece element. For example, the can 1 is made of plastic (e.g. by injection moulding) . Alternatively, the can 1 may be made of a sheet met^¬ al .

It should be noted that the description and drawings merely il^¬ lustrate the principles of the proposed multi-purpose can. Those skilled in the art will be able to implement various arrange^¬ ments that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the invention.

List of reference numerals

1 can

2 main body

2a interior space

2.1 bottom portion

2.2 edge

2.2a, 2.2b lateral edge portion

2.3 side wall portion

2.4 opening

3 handle

3.1 cavity

4 straight edge portion 5,5' liquid dispensing portion hi first height

h2 second height

Claims

1. Multi-purpose can comprising a main body (2) and a handle (3) coupled with said main body (2), said main body (2) comprising a bottom portion (2.1) adapted to place the can (1) at a storing surface, a side wall portion (2.3) pro^¬ truding from said bottom portion (2.1) and an edge (2.2) at the upper side of the can (1), wherein the edge (2.2) com^¬ prises edge portion (4) forming a shovel edge and wherein at least one liguid dispensing portion (5, 5') is provided at said edge (2.2), said liguid dispensing portion (5, 5') being adapted to enable a focussed dispensing of liguid re^¬ ceived within said main body (2) .

2. Multi-purpose can according to claim 1, wherein the edge portion (4) is formed as a straight edge portion.

3. Multi-purpose can according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said edge portion (4) is arranged opposite to the handle (3) .

4. Multi-purpose can according to claims 1-3, wherein said edge portion (4) extends across the whole or essentially the whole width of the can (1) .

5. Multi-purpose can according to anyone of the preceding

claims, wherein the liguid dispensing portion (5, 5') is arranged adjacent to said edge portion (4)

6. Multi-purpose can according to anyone of the preceding

claims, wherein the liguid dispensing portion (5, 5') is arranged in a corner region between said edge portion (4) and a lateral edge portion (2.2a, 2.2b) .

. Multi-purpose can according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein said liguid dispensing portion (5, 5') is formed by a bulge provided at the edge (2.2) .

8. Multi-purpose can according to anyone of the preceding

claims, comprising a pair of liguid dispensing portions (5, 5' ) , said liguid dispensing portions (5, 5') being arranged at opposite sides of the edge portion (4) .

9. Multi-purpose can according to anyone of the preceding

claims, wherein the main body (2) comprises a cup-like or vase-like shape.

10. Multi-purpose can according to anyone of the preceding

claims, wherein the main body (2) comprises a conical shape widening towards the upper side of the can (1) .

11. Multi-purpose can according to anyone of the preceding

claims, wherein the height of the main body (2) in the area of the edge portion (4) is greater than in the area of the handle (3) .

12. Multi-purpose can according to anyone of the preceding

claims, wherein the handle (3) comprises a cavity (3.1), said cavity (3.1) opening towards the upper side of the can (1) .

13. Multi-purpose can according to anyone of the preceding

claims, said can (1) being integrally formed as a one-piece element .