WO2013138873A1

WO2013138873A1 - Portable recipient

Info

Publication number: WO2013138873A1
Application number: PCT/BE2012/000016
Authority: WO
Inventors: Richard MOYSON
Original assignee: Moyson Richard
Priority date: 2012-03-23
Filing date: 2012-03-23
Publication date: 2013-09-26

Abstract

A recipient (6) of which the bottom (2) is connectable to the bottom (2') of another recipient (6') by means of a mechanical connection (11,11') thereby providing a steady support by the inverted lower recipient to the upright higher recipient.

Description

CONNECTABLE RECIPIENT

The present invention relates to a recipient that can be carried with a handle.

More specifically the invention is dedicated for portable recipients such as water buckets or paint buckets. Traditionally water buckets are carried by means of a handle, in the shape of a half circle, attached by two hinges and often equipped with a handgrip. This handle can be flipped to one side when the bucket is standing on the floor, so that the opening at the top of the bucket is freely accessible for cleaning tools or for objects to take water from the bucket.

Further known are paint buckets that are likewise carried by a handle that can be flipped to one side to allow access to the paint through the opening at the top by means of paint brushes or by mixing tools etc.

A disadvantage of these portable recipients is that they are not easy to reach when the recipient is on the floor and the user is standing up.

Users must bend down repeatedly to grasp the handle or to move the recipient to another location. In the case of a paint recipient, it is very often positioned on another surface, such as a step ladder at the desired height to reach the spot to be painted. Also, users must bend down each time a paint bucket on the floor needs to be picked up to be moved elsewhere. This may be particularly difficult for big paint buckets that can be quite heavy to lift. It is therefore an objective of the invention to give a solution to one or more of the above-mentioned disadvantages.

To this end the present invention provides a portable recipient of which the bottom is connectable to the bottom of another recipient by means of a mechanical connection thereby providing a steady support by the inverted lower recipient to the upright higher recipient. The portable recipient can for instance be a bucket, and more specifically a conical or cylindrical bucket.

An advantage of the portable recipients with connectable bottoms is that the top recipient can stand on the bottom recipient which makes it easier to pick it up since the handle is now higher with respect to the floor.

In a preferred embodiment, the portable recipient can be a conical bucket such as a water bucket, or can be a cylindrical bucket such as a paint bucket. The portable bucket can also provide a support to position the recipient on a higher level which can be useful for a paint bucket for instance, where the opening of the top paint bucket can stand closer to the surface to be painted, obviating the need to use a step ladder or other support.

In a preferred embodiment the mechanical connection between the bottoms of two recipients is engaged by a rotating movement between the two recipients while their bottoms are in contact.

An advantage of this rotating movement is that it can be executed without spilling the fluid in the top recipient and that it does not require any tool to be carried out.

Another advantage is that in this way a tight connection can be realized which can be disengaged conveniently by rotating the other way, again without needing any tool. Such a connection can consist of wedge shaped blades on the bottom of one recipient, that can be locked into wedge shaped blades on the bottom of another recipient engageable by a rotating movement of the bottom of one recipient against the bottom of another recipient.

An advantage of such wedge shaped blades is that they can be produced by extrusion techniques in the same production step as the bucket itself in case of a plastic bucket. Another advantage is that the bottom of the recipient can be shaped such that a single identical shape for all recipients can be used, that nevertheless allows the shape of the top recipient to grip into the shape of another recipient that is upside down. In another embodiment, the top sides of two recipients can also be connected to one another by mechanical means of any suitable type such as hooks, clamps or gripping parts.

An advantage of such connectable top sides is that in combination with connectable bottoms the recipients are inversely stackable and thus can support a top bucket not only by one bucket height, but also by two or three or more bucket heights without the need for tools or surfaces other than the buckets themselves.

Another advantage of these stackable buckets is that they still fit into one another and can be stacked in the same sense for transporting, without taking too much space. With the intention of better showing the characteristics of the invention, hereafter, as examples without any limitative character, preferred forms of embodiment are described of a portable recipient, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: figure 1 schematically and in side view represents a single bucket according to the invention and the same bucket connected to a second bucket according to the invention;

figure 2 schematically and in perspective represents two buckets according to the invention with a bottom view of one bucket and a top view of a second and inverted bucket;

figure 3 shows how a top bucket is attached to a lower bucket bottom-to-bottom;

figure 4 shows in more detail a section of the

connected bottoms with interacting wedge-shaped blades ;

figure 5 shows a bottom view of a variant bucket bottom;

figure 6 shows the interaction between two bottoms of the variant bucket with unlocked bottoms;

figure 7 shows the bottoms of figure 6 after the two bottoms have been connected by rotating one bucket; figure 8 shows a side view of a top bucket attached to two lower buckets that are connected with their top rims together;

figure 9 shows one way to connect top rims 4', 4" of two buckets 6' , 6" together in this case by a foldable clamp 14' on one rim 4' hooking over both rims and by a foldable clamp 14" on the other rim 4" hooking over both rims on two opposed positions of the rims;

figure 10 shows a side view of a top bucket attached to none, one, two or three lower buckets;

figure 11 shows a variant of a portable recipient according to the invention which in this case has a cylindrical shape.

The portable recipient 1 represented in figure 1 consists of a circular bottom 2, an upright conical mantle 3 connecting the circular bottom 2 with a flat top rim 4, surrounding the top opening 5 of the bucket 6 and providing two hinges 7 to attach a movable handle 8, equipped with a grip 9. Halfway between the hinges 7, one spout 10 is preformed in the rim 4 and conical mantle 3, for easy pouring .

According to the invention, the bottom 2 of the portable recipient 1 is provided with a mechanical connector 11 on the outside of the recipient in this example consisting of wedge shaped concentric blades 12 attached to the bottom at one side of the blades 12.

The function of the mechanical connector 11 is simple and as follows. Two buckets 6, 6' are positioned with their bottoms against each other. By making a rotating movement with one bottom 6, the blades 12 of one connector 11 will hook behind the blades 12' of the other connector 11', thereby forming a strong bond, capable of supporting the weight of the other bucket as is illustrated in figure 1.

The top bucket 6 is now supported by the bottom bucket 6' and its handle 8 can be reached more easily than when the bucket 6 is on the ground. Also, the top bucket 6 can be carried together with the supporting bottom bucket 6' with the handle 8 of the top bucket to move both buckets together .

To disconnect both buckets it is sufficient to make a counter-rotating movement with one bottom, thereby releasing both buckets 6,6' which can now be stacked upright into one another to save space.

Figure 2 shows the disconnected buckets 6, 6' in perspective.lt can be observed that this connection can be formed, even when the two bottoms are identical. To this end, openings 13 are left between the wedge-shaped blades 12.

Figure 3 shows how the top bucket 6 can be connected to the bottom and inverted bucket 6' by bringing the bottoms 2, 2' of both buckets into contact and by rotating the top bucket versus the bottom bucket 6' .

Figure 4 shows in more detail in a section of the connected bottoms how the wedge-shaped blades 12, 12' of the two interacting bottoms 2, 2' interact to form a mechanical connection .

Figure 5 shows a variant of a bottom of a bucket, where the wedge-shaped blades 12 with a solid heel 14 are surrounded by concentric "feet" 15 that support the bucket 6 when on the floor with its bottom 11 delimited by its circumference 16, but which allow a bucket with the same shape to be connected bottom-to-bottom without interference of the "feet" 15 from one bottom with the "feet" 15' of the other bottom, whereby the "feet" 15, 15' now space the two bottoms 11, 11' such that they can be easily rotated and connected without collision of the feet 15 from one bucket 6 with the feet 15' from the other bucket 6' .

Figure 6 shows a top view of two bottoms of two identically shaped buckets 6, 6' that are touching each other in an unlocked position, where the "feet" 15, 15' of both buckets 6, 6' are close to one another but are not touching each other. One bottom 11 is in an inverted position compared to the other bottom 11' .

Figure 7 shows a top view of the same two bottoms 11, 11' which now have rotated into a locked position, whereby the "feet" 15, 15' of both buckets are now more evenly spaced.

Figure 8 shows another embodiment of the portable recipient of the invention, whereby not only the bottoms 2, 2' of two buckets 6, 6' but also the top rims 4, 4' of two buckets 6', 6" can be connected by mechanical means. The connection of the top rims 4', 4" can be achieved by clamping both rims 4', 4" together or by any other mechanical means that will connect both rims, without hampering the support given by a rim when a bucket is put upside down on the floor. This feature allows the top bucket 6 to be supported not only by one bucket 6' , but also by two other buckets 6' , 6", thereby raising its stand to a higher position, without the need for any other tool than an extra bucket or two. Figure 9 shows one way of connecting both rims 4, 4" in this case by two foldable clamps of which one clamp 16 is attached to rim 4 and hooks over rims 4 and 4', while the other clamp 16' is attached to rim 4' and hooks over rim 4' and rim 4.

Figure 10 shows that the supporting buckets can be stacked

( even further in the case of connectable top rims to three supporting buckets 6' , 6", 6"' for one top bucket 6, thereby raising the positi n of the top bucket 6 even further .

When they are not needed anymore, the supporting buckets 6, 6' , 6", 6"' can be disconnected and can be stacked in an upright position into one another to save space or to carry them away.

Figure 11 shows a variant of a bucket which has a cylindrical shape (6), connected bottom to bottom (11, 11') with another identical bucket which could be e.g. paint buckets .

It is evident that the mechanical connection means chosen to connect the bottoms or the tops of the recipients can be one of many known : clamps can be used, snap-on systems, plastic surfaces that grip into each other, spring loaded connections etc.

It is also evident that the shape of the recipient does not necessarily have to be circular, conical or cylindrical. Other shapes can be used, as long as the mechanical connection means are adapted to these shapes.

Also, the recipient does not necessarily have to be portable with a handle in order to be connectable bottom- to-bottom to another recipient.

The present invention is in no way limited to the forms of embodiment described by way of an example and represented in the figures, however, such an improved recipient of which the bottoms and optionally also the tops can be mechanically connected can be realized in various forms without leaving the scope of the invention.

Claims

Claims .

l. A recipient of which the bottom (2) is connectable to the bottom (2' ) of another recipient (β') by means of a mechanical connection (11, 11') thereby providing a steady support by the inverted lower recipient (6') to the upright higher recipient (6).

2. A recipient according to claim 1, characterized in that the recipient is a portable bucket (6) .

3. A recipient according to claim 1, characterized in that the recipient is a conical or cylindrical bucket (6).

4. A recipient according to claim 1, characterized in that the mechanical connection (11, 11') between the bottoms of two recipients is engaged by a rotating movement between the two recipients while their bottoms are in contact.

5. A recipient according to claim 1, characterized in that the mechanical connection (11) consists of wedge shaped blades (12) on the bottom of one recipient, that are locked into wedge shaped blades (12') on the bottom of another recipient by rotating one recipient (6) against another recipient (6') while their bottoms are in contact .

6. A recipient according to claim 1,, characterized in that the top sides (4, 4') of two recipients can also be connected to one another by mechanical means of any suitable type such as hooks, clamps or gripping parts.

7. A recipient according to claim 6, characterized in that the mechanical means to connect the top sides consist of one or more clamps (16, 16') on each top side (4, 4'), that hook over the rims of both top sides, when in a closed position.

8. A recipient according to claim 1, characterized in that it can be stacked by bottom to bottom (2, 2') and top to top (4, 4') connections forming a firm support for a top recipient or another object.

9. A recipient according to claim 5 characterized in that the recipient is a bucket with wedge-shaped blades (12) that have a solid heel (14) and are surrounded by concentric "feet" (15) that support the bucket (6) when on the floor with its bottom delimited by its circumference but which allow a bucket with the same shape to be connected bottom-to-bottom without interference of the "feet" (15) from one bottom with the "feet" (15') of the other bottom, whereby the "feet" (15, 15') now space the two bottoms such that they can be easily rotated and connected without collision of the feet (15) from one bucket (6) with the feet (15') from the other bucket (6').