ZA201101884B - Painting accessory - Google Patents

Description

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Title: Device for Storing and Maintaining a Paintbrush

Technical field of the invention

This invention relates to a device for cleaning, maintaining and storing a paintbrush.

Background to the invention

The inventor is aware that if a paintbrush is not cleaned immediately after use with an appropriate solvent, the paintbrush will become unusable. The inventor is also aware that a person sometimes does not have time to clean the paintbrush, often leaving the paintbrush for an extended time in an open container in a solvent. When the solvent evaporates, the paint residue deposits and hardens on the bristles of the brush rendering the brush useless. In addition, the bristles of the brush may be permanently bent, making the brush difficult to use and shortening the lifetime of the brush. The inventor is further aware that cleaning paintbrushes requires about three volumes of solvent and that most solvents evaporates quickly, requiring the paintbrush to be cleaned and dried to be used again.

It is an object of the invention to provide a device for cleaning and storing paintbrushes between uses. The device requires fewer volumes of solvent to clean and brushes can be stored in the solvent for extended periods, if required.

General description of the invention

According to the invention there is provided a device for cleaning and storing a paintbrush, which device includes: a lid for a container, which lid is configured to fit in an airtight manner on the neck of a container and further having an aperture defined in the top of the lid; and a resiliently deformable seal located in the aperture to form, in use, a seal between the lid and a handle of a paintbrush.

The lid and resiliently deformable seal may be integrally formed in one embodiment of the invention. :

The device may preferably include a container having a neck configured for receiving the lid. It will be appreciated that the device may be configured to be used with other readily available containers and therefore does not necessarily include a container.

The neck of the container may preferably be screw threaded and the lid may be configured to screw onto the neck of the container in an airtight manner.

The seal may typically include a circular flange for sealing against the lid around the aperture and a narrowing, or narrowing conically shaped, tube extending transversely from the circular flange to an opening for receiving a paintbrush handle there trough and sealing against the handle of the brush.

The flange may preferably sufficiently extend radially to the edge of the under side of a lid to also function as the seal between the lid and the container, when the lid is fastened or screwed onto the container.

The seal may also be provided with a circular recess about the seal, above the flange to sealingly capture a complementary circular inner edge of the : lid about the aperture defined in the upper side of the lid.

The seal may be selected from rubber or similar elastomeric material, preferably a solvent resistant synthetic material such as silicone rubber.

It will be appreciated that the resiliently deformable seal will accommodate a range of paintbrush handle shapes, widths and diameters. The inner shape of the seal may be complementary to a general shape of a typical paintbrush.

® The inner diameter of the tube may narrow in a step like manner to ; accommodate two or more of the most common paintbrush handles diameters.

The container opening will determine the width of the brush that can be inserted into the container and different ranges and sizes may be selected for example artist brushes on one end of the scale to wide paint brushes typically used for painting walls.

In use, the seal will be seated in the aperture in the lid. A handle of a paintbrush will be inserted from the operatively lower opening of the seal through the upper opening provided in the seal so that the paintbrush handle protrudes through the seal and lid and the seal seals around the lower part of the handle.

The paintbrush is then ready to be used. After use, the container is filled with an appropriate solvent and the brush of the paintbrush is inserted into the container with the solvent at a level selected to cover the bristles, and the lid screwed on.

The brush can be stored in this state for an extended period until the brush is to be used again. The lid is then simply screwed off and the excess solvent shook or squeezed of the brush and the paintbrush is ready for use.

Detailed description of the invention

The invention is now described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the seal and lid for a device for cleaning and storing a paintbrush according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the device for cleaning and storing a paintbrush shown in conjunction with a paintbrush; :

Figure 3 is an alternative perspective view of the seal and lid of the device shown in conjunction with a paintbrush;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the seal for the device, in accordance with the invention;

Figure 5 is a side view of the seal;

Figure 6 is a cross sectional side view of the device shown in conjunction with a paintbrush; and

, Figure 7 is top perspective view of the device.

Referring now to Figures 1 to 3, a first embodiment of the invention, in which like features of the invention are indicated by like numerals, a device for cleaning and storing a paintbrush is generally indicated by reference numeral (1).

The device for cleaning and storing a paintbrush (1) comprises a resiliently deformable seal in the form of a sleeve (2) of circular cross-section, with a circular outwardly radially extending flange (3) at one end (4) thereof. The periphery of the flange has a lip (5) extending axially in a direction opposite to that of the resilient sleeve (2). The inner periphery of the radially extending lip (5) is threaded. The axially extending lip (5) and the threaded formation thereon together define an engaging formation indicted generally by reference numeral (6). In a variation of this embodiment, the bottom of the sleeve may be provided with a circular recess which fits inside a complementary circular aperture defined in a lid, which lid defines the radially extending flange (3) and the lip (5).

The resilient sleeve (2) is sized to accommodate a handle (7) of a paintbrush (8) therein in a snug fit which will not permit the passage of liquid between the inner periphery of the sleeve and the handle of the paintbrush. The resilient sleeve (2) is made from an elastomeric material such as silicone rubber.

The engaging formation (6) is adapted to engage a complementary engaging formation, indicated generally by reference number (9), in the form of a threaded lip (10) surrounding a circular aperture (11) on a container (12). The circular aperture (11) on the container (12) is sized to allow the passage of the head (13) of the paintbrush therethrough. The body of the container (12) is sized to enclose the head of the paintbrush without touching the sides of the container when the engaging formation (6) on the flange is operatively engaged to the complementary engaging formation (9) on the container.

The painting accessory (1) may be utilised in two different ways, namely as a drip tray while painting, and, in conjunction with the container (12), for storage of the paintbrush (7). :

In use, a user of the painting accessory (1) inserts the handle (7) of the paintbrush (8) into the resilient sleeve (2). The snug fit between the handle (7)

® --2011/01g84 and the resilient sleeve (2) will cause the painting accessory (1) to be held securely in position. The user is then able to utilise the paintbrush (8) for painting in a conventional manner. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that, when fitted to a paintbrush in this way, the painting accessory (1) acts as a drip tray to catch paint drops which may fall off the bristles of the paintbrush. The threaded axially extending lip (5) of the engaging formation (6) prevents the accumulated paint droplets from dripping onto the floor.

Once the user has finished painting, a quantity of cleaning liquid such as water or turpentine is poured into the container (12), the head (13) of the paintbrush (8) is inserted through the aperture (11) of the container, and the engaging formation (6) of the painting accessory (1) and the complementary engaging formation (9) on the container (12) are screwed together to form a sealed compartment enclosing the head of the paintbrush. In this configuration the container may be agitated to effect cleaning of the bristles of the paintbrush, or the container (12) may merely be left standing with the bristles of the paintbrush immersed in the cleaning liquid. When the paintbrush (8) is again required for use, the painting accessory is merely unscrewed from the container (12), any excess cleaning fluid is shaken off from the bristles of the paintbrush and painting activities may recommence.

It will be further appreciated by those skilled in the art that no evaporation of the cleaning liquid occurs during storage of the paintbrush (8), thereby prolonging the life of the brush by preventing that the paint residue dries or cures ‘25 on the bristles of the brush.

Numerous modifications are possible to this embodiment without departing from the scope of the invention. In particular, alternative types of engaging and complementary engaging formations may be used to effect the connection of the painting accessory (1) to the container (12).

Further the container (12) may be agitated manually, as described above or, alternatively, the container (12) may include a manually or electrically-driven stirring device such as a paddle or the like.

Referring now to Figures 4 to 7, a second and preferred embodiment of the invention, in which like features of the invention are indicated by like

Co - =+2011/01g84 numerals, a device for cleaning and storing a paintbrush is generally indicated by reference numeral (1).

The device (1) includes a lid (14) for a container (12), which lid is configured to fit in an airtight manner on the neck of the container and further having an aperture (15) defined in the top of the lid. The Device (1) further includes a resiliently deformable silicone rubber seal (16) located in the aperture (15) to form, in use, a seal between the lid 14 and a handle of a paintbrush (7).

The device (1) includes a container (12) having a screw threaded neck configured for receiving screw thread defined in the lid (14) in an airtight manner.

The seal (16) includes a circular flange (17) for sealing against the lid (14) around the aperture (15) and a conically shaped tube (18) extending transversely, upward, from the circular flange to an opening (19) for receiving a paintbrush (7) handle there through and sealing against the handle of the brush.

The flange (17) extends radially to the edge of the under side of a lid (14) to also function as the seal between the lid and the upper edge of the neck of the container (12), when the lid is screwed onto the container.

The seal (16) is also provided with a circular recess (19) about the seal, above the flange (17) to sealingly capture a complementary circular inner edge of the lid (14) about the aperture defined in the upper side of the lid.

It shall be understood that the examples are provided for illustrating the invention further and to assist a person skilled in the art with understanding the invention and are not meant to be construed as unduly limiting the reasonable scope of the invention.

Claims (10)

JIT antes ® Claims a Ne ee ee

1. A device for cleaning and storing a paintbrush, which device includes: a lid for a container, which lid is configured to fit in an airtight manner on the neck of the container and further having an aperture defined in the top of the lid; and a resiliently deformable seal located in the aperture to form, in use, a seal between the lid and a handle of a paintbrush. :

2. A device as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the lid and resiliently deformable seal are integrally formed.

3. A device as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, which includes a container having a neck configured for receiving the lid.

4. A device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the neck of the container is screw threaded and the lid is configured to screw onto the neck of the container in an airtight manner.

5. A device as claimed in any one of claims 1, 3, and 4, wherein the seal includes a circular flange for sealing against the lid around the aperture and a narrowing tube extending transversely from the circular flange to an opening.

6. A device as claimed in Claim 5, wherein the flange extends radially to the edge of the under side of a lid to also function as the seal between the lid and the container, when the lid is fastened or screwed onto the container.

7. A device as claimed in Claim 5 or Claim 6, wherein the seal is provided with a circular recess about the seal, above the flange to sealingly capture a complementary circular inner edge of the lid about the aperture defined in the upper side of the lid.

Co -.2011/01g84

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8. A device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the seal is selected from silicone rubber.

9. A device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the inner diameter of the tube narrows in a step like manner.

10. A device for cleaning and storing a paintbrush substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED THIS 11™ DAY OF MARCH 2011. & HAHN INC. AGENT FOR APPLICANT