GB2213459A - Paint brush scraper device - Google Patents

Abstract

The device comprises a one piece plastic ring 18 with a plate portion 20 which provides a wiping edge for a brush. The ring clips or spring fits onto a rim at the top of a paint tin. The ring furthermore has a stirrup support member 50 which can be moved from a flat stowed position in which it lies in the plane of the ring to an upstanding position in which it receives the handle of a paint brush to hold the brush in a stable position in which the brush lies at a slight angle to the horizontal across the top of the tin. The edge 22 is preferably serrated and may be straight or curved, a bead on its underside preventing paint creeping along the underside of the plate portion 20. The ring may include a rib (26A, Figures 5 and 6) to aid stacking, and the device may be initially located on the base of the tin (Figure 2). The ring may be cut away to clear a carrying handle. Alternatively the device may be permanently secured within the tin. <IMAGE>

Description

Improvements relating to devices for use with paint and the like brushes This invention relates to devices for use in connection with paint and the like brushes, and serves to provide for an economy of use in paint and the like materials which are applied by means of brushes, such materials including paints, varnishes, lacquers, and other fluent substances applied by means of brushing, and all collectively referred to hereinafter in the interests of simplicity as "paint" or "paints". These materials are customarily supplied in tins which are used as the reservoirs for the paint while applying same by brushing, that is, the user dips the brush into the paint whilst in the tin and applies the paint directly to the surface to be painted.Although the invention, as will be clear from the following, applies mainly to such tins, it is to be mentioned that the invention is not to be considered as limited thereto, and the invention can be applied in circumstances where the paint is contained in a bucket, drum, pail or other canister, and the expression "tin" or "tins" should be construed accordingly hereinafter.

Almost without exception, when a user of paint extracts the paint by means of a brush from the open mouth of a tin, the user removes excess material from the brush by wiping it on the inner lip of the open end of the tin so that the excess paint runs back into the main body of paint inside the tin, or at least this is the intention. However what invariably happens is that the excess paint runs into a groove or recess at the top edge of the tin which is normally for receiving a bead on the push-fit lid and/or the excess paint spills over the edge and runs down the outside of the tin. The excess may even reach the surface on which the tins stands and marks and stains same. It is frequently necessary therefore to use a rag or other sheet under the paint tin in order to catch the excess which runs down the outside of the tin.

Because the said groove or recess becomes filled with paint, which in due course dries into a thick layer which is difficult to remove, it is difficult to reapply the lid.

This is frequently applied with undue force, which means that when the paint has to be used subsequently, it is equally difficult to remove the lid.

Also, scraping a flat brush on a curved rim results in that the brush edges are scraped, leaving excess paint in the centre of the brush.

The present invention provides in several aspects a simple and effective means for the prevention of the deleterious effect of paint in the said groove and in the preferred form, the device serves to keep the rim, groove or recess free of paint and to prevent the flowing of excess paint down the outside of the tin.

In accordance with the invention, in one aspect, there is provided in or for a paint tin a device for providing an edge which lies inwardly of the top inner lid of the tin and serves as a means against which a user can wipe the brush to cause excess paint to be caught by said edge, and drop directly into the remainder of the paint in the tin.

Preferably, the said device is removably fitted to the top edge of the tin and overlies the said top edge. The edge against which the brush is wiped may define a straight line, although it can have serrations, which is a preferred feature, to ensure that the bristles of the brush are separated when wiped against said serrated edge. The serrated edge, when the tin is circular, preferably lies as a chord to the circle.

Preferably the device comprises a clip-on ring with a plate portion to define the said wiping edge, such plate portion defining a minor segment of the circle.

To the underside (when in the tin) the said wiping edge may have a beading to further prevent wiped paint from creeping along the underside of the plate portion towards the tin rim.

The device may be provided as an attachment to the tin before the lid of the tin is opened, and for example may be clipped on to the base of the tin so that when the paint is to be used, the user removes the lid, and also removes the device from the base of the tin and clips it onto the top of the tin. Where the tin is provided with a wire carrying handle, the device may be appropriately modified and cut away in order to clear the handle to enable it to be fitted to the top of the tin. The device is preferably a spring fit to the top of the tin, and is arranged to cover the groove or recess in the lid edge, when provided, to ensure that excess paint cannot enter such edge whereby the lid can be subsequently applied easily and subsequently removed just as easily.

The ring may have a rib or ribs to ensure that when tins with said rings are stacked, the said rib or ribs acts or act to keep the stacks stable, as is required for example when the tins are on display in supermarket and other shelves.

The device may be simply moulded in plastics material by any suitable moulding technique such as injection moulding, thermoforming or cold moulding or it may be in the form of a cut out plastic sheet which can be forced over the top of the tin in much the same fashion as are the plastic sheets with apertures therein used for holding together beer and other cans and which are now in such extensive use.

Although it is much preferred that the device should be clip or spring-on attachment for the tin, it is possible that in another embodiment, the device will be provided inside the tin and could remain in position inside the tin at all times so that when the user removes the lid of the tin, the device will be present and provide said wiping edge for use. It is also possible to provide that the device may be adapted to be removably fitted to the inside of the tin inside the top edge of the tin, but the disadvantage of this arrangement is that the device will not prevent excess paint from entering the groove or recess at the top edge of the tin.

In another aspect of the invention, the device is in the form of a clip-on ring and has a brush support in the form of a stirrup, stand or the like, which normally lies in a stowed position in the plane of the ring, but can be moved to an upstanding position out of the plane of the ring so as to support the handle of a brush, whilst the bristle end of the brush is supported on another part of the device within the periphery of same.

The support preferably is connected to the remainder of the device by means of an integral hinge so that it can be snapped between the stowed postion and upstanding position.

The said aspect of the invention can be combined with the first aspect or a feature of the first aspect of the present invention.

A device embodying both aspects of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 shows a paint tin with the device attached to the base thereof; Fig. 2 shows the paint tin of Fig. 1 with the lid removed, and the device also removed, the view being an exploded perspective view; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the device according to the invention; Fig. 4 shows the tin of Fig. 1 with the device attached to the top edge thereof; and Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation at the top end of the tin and device as shown in Fig. 4; and Fig. 6 shows the base of one tin and the top of another tin upon which the first named tin is stacked.

Referring to the drawings, a conventional cylindrical paint tin 10 is closed, conventionally, by means of a push fitted lid 12. To the base of the tin 10 is attached a device 14 according to the present invention, the device being shown in greater detail in Figs. 3 and 5.

To use the tin shown in Fig. 1, the lid 12 is detached in conventional manner, for example by means of a screwdriver or the like by prizing the lid 12 from the body of the tin 10 to reveal the paint 16.

Also, the device 14 according to the invention is detached from the bottom of the tin as shown in Fig. 2, by springing it away from the bottom of the tin, the device 14 being a plastics material component which is snap-fitted to the base of the tin in the Fig. 1 condition, which is the condition in which the tin is marketed.

The device according to the embodiment of the invention as shown in Figs. 3 and 5 comprises a ring portion 18 and a sector portion 20, the sector portion 20 having an edge 22 which defines a chord of the ring 18. The edge 22 is serrated as shown at 24 for a purpose to be explained hereinafter.

The ring portion as shown in Fig. 5 is of L-shaped crosssection and is provided with a top 26 and a side 28. The sector portion 20 is flat and is integral with the top ring portion 26. The portion 20 defines a minor segment of the ring 14. Upstanding from top 26 is a rib 26A for a purpose to be explained hereinafter with reference to Fig. 6.

As will be understood from Figs. 4 and 5, the device 14 according to the invention is placed over the top edge of the tin 10 when the lid 12 is removed, the arrangement being shown clearly in Fig. 5. The device 14 is adapted to be a snap or spring fit over the top end of the tin 10 and lies so that the ring top portion 26 covers a top ring 30 which is crimped to the top edge of the tin 10, and forms a means for receiving the lid 12. Ring 30 is of conventional construction, and will be seen to comprise a groove or recess 32 to provide a fitting edge 34 for the lid 12 to be snapped thereinto.

In conventional use of the paint tin 10 i.e. without the provision of the device 14, the user normally wipes the paint brush, shown at 36 in Figs. 4 and 5, against the inner edge of the ring 30 so that excess paint will drop back into the remainder of the paint 16 in the tin, but what in fact happens is that the excess paint tends to fill the groove 32, and in more severe cases, to run over the edge of ring 30, and to run down the outside of the tin 10, staining or marking the surface on which the tin stands. Furthermore applying the flat brush to a curved rim results in only the edges of the brush being wiped.

When the device according to the invention is fitted however as shown in Fig. 4, the said edge 22 forms a wiping edge for all of the brush 36, and lies inwardly of the inner edge of ring 30 so that, as shown in Fig. 5, excess paint wiped from the brush in its movement against edge 22 collects to the underside of the edge 22 and drips as shown in Fig. 5 at 38 back into the body of the paint, and well clear of the ring 30. A bead 22A to the underside of edge 22 prevents the paint from creeping along the underside of plate portion 20 towards the tin rim. The ring cover section 26 prevents any excess paint from entering the groove 32.

When the user has finished painting, he simply removes the device 14 and cleans same along with his brush leaving the tin free of any undesirable excess paint collections on the outside thereof or in the groove 32.

The edge 22 may be curved or straight, but by providing the serrations 22, it is ensured that when the brush is wiped against the edge, the bristles at the outer surface of the brush are separated, and this prevents paint from drying up the bristles and the brush is also thereby kept much cleaner.

The purpose of the rim 26A is to provide stability when paint tins carrying the devices are stacked. When paint tins are stacked in supermarket or the like, it is important that the stack be stable, and to this end it is usual for the base of the tin to fit into a groove in the top of the tin so that the tins will not slide one relative to another in a direction transverse to the height of the stack. By placing a device according to the invention on the base of a tin as shown in Fig. 14, without the provision of rib 26A leads to a situation where the upper tin can slide relative to the lower tin. However, as shown in Fig. 6, when the device 14 is attached to the base of an upper tin 10, the rib 26A projects downwardly, and can be arranged to fit into the groove 30 in the top ring of the lower tin, to provide stability.It will be appreciated that the ring 14 can be designed to have any desired cross section to provide this effect. For example the ring 14 may have an outer flange which overlaps the top of the lower tin so that even when the device 14 is provided on the top of a tin as opposed to on the base as shown in Fig. 1, it will still perform this stabilising function.

Fig. 3 shows in dotted lines another aspect of this invention which is the provision of a brush support 50. The support in this example is stirrup-shaped and is connected to the inside of the ring 18 by means of a neck portion 52. The stirrup 50 is integral with the ring 18 and the neck portion 52 is such that the stirrup 50 can be folded by finger pressure from its normal stowed position in the plane of the ring 18 to an upright position shown at 54 whereby the stirrup can receive and support the handle of the brush 36, the bristle end of the brush 36 resting on the portion 20 of the device, thereby to keep the brush suitably supported over the paint tin.

There may be an integral hinge between the neck portion 52 and the ring 18 to enable the stirrup 50 to be folded between the operative and stowed positions.

When the brush is held by the stirrup 50, it will remain stable if accidentally knocked, and it will be prevented from soiling furnishings or the like.

The accompanying drawings show only one embodiment of the invention in its various aspects, and it will be appreciated that it may take other forms. For example the device may be provided without the covering portion 26.

Although it is preferred that the device be attached externally as shown in the drawings, in an alternative embodiment, it could be adapted to be positioned inside the tin 10, or indeed may be connected permanently inside the tin.

The device will be made of the appropriate size to suit the particular paint tin, or a range of devices may be required to fit a range-of paint tins.

By the invention, waste of paint is minimised, paint brushes can be kept cleaner, and painting can be carried out without the tin becoming soiled and unsightly due to the spillage of excess paint. The paint tin lid can be more easily attached and detached when the lid must be replaced in order to store residual paint contained in the tin.

The invention can be used in connection with the application of any appropriate material which can be applied by means of a brush, and the device may be provided, especially in the case of larger tins, with several of said wiping edges arranged at angles to one another.

The device may be modified where the tin is provided with a wire carrying handle, as is the case in many larger tins, and portions of the device may be cut away for this purpose.

Claims (14)

1. In or for a paint tin a device for providing an edge which lies inwardly of the top inner lid of the tin and serves as a means against which a user can wipe the brush to cause excess paint to be caught by said edge, and drop directly into the remainder of the paint in the tin.

2. A device according to Claim 1 wherein the said device is removably fitted to the top edge of the tin and overlies the said top edge.

3. A device according to Claim 2, wherein the edge against which the brush is wiped defines a straight line.

4. A device according to Claim 3, wherein the said edge against which the brush is wiped has serrations.

5. A device according to Claim 3 or 4, wherein the device is circular and, the said edge lies as a chord to the circle.

6. A device according to any preceding claim, wherein the device comprises a clip-on ring with a plate portion to define said wiping edge, such plate portion defining a minor segment of the circle.

7. A device according to any preceding claim, wherein to the underside the said wiping edge has a beading to prevent wiped paint from creeping along the underside of the plate portion towards the tin rim.

8. A device according to any preceding claim, wherein the device is provided as as an attachment to the tin before the lid of the tin is opened and is clipped to the base of the tin, but can be removed therefrom and clipped to the top of the tin, when it covers the groove or recess in the edge of the top of the tin.

9. A device according to any preceding claim, wherein the ring has a rib or ribs to ensure that when tins with said rings are stacked, the said rib or ribs acts or act to keep the stacks stable, as is required when the tins are stacked for display on supermarket or other shelves.

10. A device according to any preceding claim, wherein the device is a one piece plastics moulding.

11. In or for a paint tin, a device for supporting a paint brush on top of the tin, said device comprising a fitting at the top of the tin and having a support member which is movable between a flat stowed postion and an upright support position in which it can receive and support the brush handle.

12. A device according to Claim 11, wherein the device is a ring adapted to be clipped onto the top of a paint tin and in the stowed position the support member lies in the plane of the ring.

13. A device according to Claim 11 or 12 wherein the support member is connected to the remainder of the device by means of an integral hinge.

14. In or for a paint tin a device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.