Abstract:
A paint pad apparatus having a mounting plate for attaching a removable paint pad and handle. The mounting plate has a plurality of projections for aligning, receiving, and blocking a shaft of the handle. The projections allow the shaft of the handle to be freely rotatable. The paint pad apparatus also is also provided with a plurality of accessible spacers to allow application of paint to a surface adjacent an adjoining surface.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for painting and in particular to a paint pad on which the mounting plate carries a paint pad on one side and has projections on the other side to which a handle is removably attached to the mounting plate.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Currently, painters use brushes or rollers to paint large wall surfaces in an efficient manner. However, using brushes or rollers to paint to the edge of a wall surface, without painting the adjacent wall surface is extremely difficult, if not impossible. These paint applicators necessitate frequent renewal by reapplying the tape to the surface adjacent the surface being painted or require re-painting of the edge of the surface being painted, at considerable expense and effort. Several devices have been developed to solve this problem.  
           [0003]    One device is a paint pad that is coupled to a flat mounting plate. The mounting plate has four spacer means that extend beyond the mounting plate, each spacer means extends beyond at least two edges of the paint pad. A disadvantage of such device is that mounting plate substantially covers the spacer means, thus making it very difficult to sufficiently clean the spacer means if paint is picked up by the spacer means, which prevents the spacer means from rolling if desired and causes the spread of paint on the spacer means to spread to the adjacent surface.  
           [0004]    Another device is a coating pad device having projections on one side of the pad for locking the shaft of the handle in one of three positions. One disadvantage of such device is a lack of means for neatly painting the edges between two surfaces. Another disadvantage of such device is a lack of flexibility for the paint handle&#39;s motion, since the handle is locked in one of only three positions. A further disadvantage of such device is that the support shaft has to be snapped into the locking projections, which would be difficult if projections had paint on their surfaces, particularly when the paint pad was removed and replaced with a new paint pad. Yet a further disadvantage of such device is a lack of a projection on one side with the locking projections, (a stop block) which would rest directly at the end of the support shaft and restrict the motion of the handle along its axis with respect to the pad.  
           [0005]    Another type of device uses a flat pad having a fixed blade along one edge of the pad. During loading of the pad, paint is unavoidably applied to the edge. Paint must then be wiped from the edge before applying paint to the adjacent surface. The result is that the paint operation becomes messy and wasteful.  
           [0006]    The previous devices do not provide for a clean painted line between adjacent surfaces at the same time allowing quick and efficient access to spacer for cleanup and allowing for a fully rotatable handle coupled to a paint pad, wherein the paint pad does not slip perpendicular with respect to the motion of applying paint with the paint pad.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    The present invention provides a paint pad apparatus for applying paint to a surface comprising: a mounting plate, preferably in the shape of a rectangle, having a top and a bottom face; a paint pad attached to the bottom face of the mounting plate; a plurality of upwardly extending projections attached along the top face of the mounting plate, the projections having internal cavities capable of supporting an end portion of a shaft of a handle; a stop block projection attached along the top face of the mounting plate, to stop the end portion of the shaft of the handle; and a plurality of spacers rotatably attached along the top face of the mounting plate for maintaining the paint pad apparatus at a uniform distance from a surface adjacent the surface being painted. At least two spacers extend outwardly beyond at least two sides of the mounting plate and at least two spacers extend outwardly beyond one side of the mounting plate. The alignment projections, the upwardly extending projections, and the stop block projection are preferably integrally attached to the top surface of the mounting plate.  
           [0008]    In a further embodiment of the invention the paint pad apparatus comprises at least two alignment projections attached along the top face of the mounting plate to allow alignment of an end portion of a shaft of a handle.  
           [0009]    In yet a further embodiment the paint pad apparatus comprises a plurality of tabs along the bottom face of the mounting plate, the tabs extend inwardly along at least two opposing peripheral edges of the mounting plate to allow mounting of the paint pad.  
           [0010]    These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is a top view of the paint pad apparatus, showing the shaft of the applicator handle going through a first and second upwardly extending projections;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the paint pad apparatus, showing the shaft of the applicator handle going through a third and fourth upwardly extending projections;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the paint pad apparatus of FIG. 1 showing primarily the bottom face of the mounting plate and the removable paint pad side;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the paint pad apparatus of FIG. 1 along  4 - 4 .  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the paint pad apparatus of FIG. 1 along  5 - 5 .; and  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the paint pad apparatus of FIG. 1 showing primarily the top surface of the mounting plate, the opposing side of FIG. 3. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0017]    In accord with the present invention a generally flat pad is provided, adapted to carry a small amount of paint and apply it to a surface or to advance paint already on a surface. The paint pad includes those pads commercially available and known as “brush pads,” “pile brush pads,” and “pile brushes.” 
         [0018]    With reference to FIGS.  1 - 6 , a paint pad apparatus  8  comprises a mounting plate  10  having a top surface  12  and a bottom surface  14 . The mounting plate  10  is typically made of plastic, such as polypropylene, polyethylene, nylon, acetal, Kapetal, or m27. The mounting plate is preferably made from a material that has some rigidity so that when pressure is applied to the plate during the painting application, the plate is able to equally distribute the pressure over the entire plate. The top surface  12  has at least one alignment projection  20  extending upwardly from the top surface  12 . Preferably, there are at least two alignment projections  20  extending upwardly from the top surface  12 , the projections  20  aligned adjacent one another and having a space between each other about the width of a shaft  32  of a handle  37 .  
         [0019]    The top surface  12  also has a plurality of upwardly extending projections  22 ,  24 ,  26 , and  28 . The upwardly extending projections  22  and  24  are aligned along one axis of the mounting plate  10 , the upwardly extending projections  26  and  28  are aligned along the other axis of the mounting plate  10 , i.e., the axis of the extending projections  26  and  28  is at an angle of 90° with respect to the axis of the extending projections  22  and  24 . Both axes of the upwardly extending projections  22 ,  24 ,  26 , and  28  lie preferably along the center of the mounting plate  10 . The plurality of upwardly extending projections  22 ,  24 ,  26  and  28  have preferably a plurality of support projections  54  on their sides. The support projections  54  provide an additional rigid support to the projections  22 ,  24 ,  26 , and  28  to prevent them from breaking off of the mounting plate  10 .  
         [0020]    Each upwardly extending projection has an internal cavity to support a shaft  32  of a paint handle  37 . The alignment projections  20  allow for alignment of the shaft  32  of the handle  37  prior to the shaft&#39;s entrance into and through the internal cavities of the upwardly extending projections  22  and  24 . The top surface  12  also has a stop block projection  38  which stops an end of the shaft  32  after the shaft has entered the upwardly extending projections  22  and  24 . The stop block projection  38  prevents shifting of the mounting plate  10  with respect to the paint handle  37 , while allowing the shaft  32  to be freely rotatable with respect to the mounting plate  10 .  
         [0021]    The top surface  12  of the mounting plate  10  also has a plurality of spacers  30  rotatably mounted on the top surface  12 . Preferably there are four spacers  30  for maintaining the paint pad apparatus  8  at a uniform distance from a surface adjacent the surface being painted, so that when the paint pad  39  engages the paint, the borderline of the paint applied by the paint pad  39  is close to an edge where the adjacent surface and the surface being painted meet. The spacers  30  have preferably flat edges and are made of plastic, such as nylon or TEFLON (manufacture by DuPont, USA), although they may be made of other materials such as rubber. At least two spacers  30  extend outwardly beyond at least two sides of the mounting plate and at least two spacers  30  extend outwardly beyond only one side of the mounting plate. The extension of the spacers  30  is about 0.05 inches from the sides of the mounting plate. The purpose of the spacers is to keep paint from getting on the surface adjacent the surface being painted. Preferably, the mounting plate  10  is of rectangular shape and the spacers  30  are located at the corners of the rectangle. In another embodiment of the present invention, the shaft  32  of the handle  37  enters through the internal cavities of the upwardly extending projections  26  and  28 , whereby the paint pad apparatus  8  is turned 90° allowing for greater flexibility when painting a surface necessitates a narrower paint pad.  
         [0022]    Referring to FIG. 3, the bottom surface  14  supports a paint absorbent pad  39 . The paint absorbent pad  39  is mounted to the bottom surface  14  of the mounting plate  10  by snapping the peripheral edge  40  of the pad  39  under a plurality of tabs  16  extending outwardly from the bottom surface  14 . The tabs  16  extend along at least two opposing sides of the peripheral edge of the mounting plate  10 . Preferably there are three tabs  16  along one side of the mounting plate  10  and three tabs  16  along the opposing side of the mounting plate  10 . The mounting plate  10  preferably has a push out hole  48  located in the center of the plate  10  for allowing the pad  39  to be pushed out and replaced with a new pad.  
         [0023]    Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the paint pad  39  is shown as preferably comprising a support layer such as a flexible plastic backing  46  having a peripheral edges  40 , a padding layer such as a foam layer  42 , either open or closed cell foam, preferably composed of a polyurethane or polyester and bristles or pile and the like  44  suitably attached to the foam layer  42 , e.g., by flocking. Preferably the pad uses bristles or other fibers to absorb and spread the paint, however, pile fabric or other pile may be used such as suitable for holding and dispensing a quantity of paint. If bristles are used it is preferred they be made of nylon or a natural material such as mohair. The paint pad  39  has preferably the same configuration as the mounting plate  10 , e.g., a rectangular shape, which allows for efficient mounting of the paint pad  39  to the mounting plate  10 . The peripheral edges  40  are seen to have four substantially straight sides, in this case in the shape of a rectangle. The peripheral edges of the paint pad  39  are pressed under the plurality of tabs  16  extending from the bottom surface  14  of the mounting plate  10  to mount the paint pad  39  to the mounting plate  10 . The tabs  16  also press into the padding layer  42  which also hold the pad  39  to the mounting plate  10 . When mounting the pad  39  to the plate  10 , the peripheral edges of the pad  39  are placed under at least two opposing tabs  16  and the pad can slide past the remaining tabs  16 .  
         [0024]    The paint handle  37  comprises a first end of a shaft  32 , which is inserted into the internal cavities of the upwardly extending projections  22 ,  24  or  26  and  28  and is rotatable. The shaft is preferably made of metal wire having a round crosssection, although a strong plastic may be substituted for the metal. The paint handle  37  further comprises a second end  34  of the shaft which is attached to a grip  36 . The grip has two ends, on a first end the grip  36  has a substantially cylindrical, threaded internal cavity  52  to allow for threading an extender to the paint handle  37 , in this way, surfaces such as ceilings can be reached with the apparatus. On the second end of the grip  36  are located a plurality of prongs  50 . The prongs  50  allow the apparatus to be put down without having to touch the ground, for example, a prong  50  is able to hook over the edge of a paint can. Therefore, when the pad  39  is used the paint on the pad will not pick up unwanted debris. The The grip  36  is preferably made of plastic, such as polypropylene, polyethylene, or nylon, although it may be made of other materials such as rubber. The grip  36  can also be texturized to provide a non-slip surface.  
         [0025]    Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purpose of clarity and understanding, it will be obvious that various modifications and changes which are within the knowledge of those skilled in the art are considered to fall within the scope of the appended claims.  
         [0026]    Referenced Elements  
         [0027]    [0027] 8  Paint pad apparatus  
         [0028]    [0028] 10  Mounting plate  
         [0029]    [0029] 12  Face  
         [0030]    [0030] 14  Face  
         [0031]    [0031] 16  Mounting tabs  
         [0032]    [0032] 20  Alignment projections  
         [0033]    [0033] 22  First upwardly extending projection  
         [0034]    [0034] 24  Second upwardly extending projection  
         [0035]    [0035] 26  Third upwardly extending projection  
         [0036]    [0036] 28  Fourth upwardly extending projection  
         [0037]    [0037] 30  Spacer  
         [0038]    [0038] 32  Handle shaft  
         [0039]    [0039] 34  Wire  
         [0040]    [0040] 36  Handle grip  
         [0041]    [0041] 37  Handle  
         [0042]    [0042] 38  Stop block projection  
         [0043]    [0043] 39  Paint pad  
         [0044]    [0044] 40  Peripheral edge  
         [0045]    [0045] 42  Foam layer  
         [0046]    [0046] 44  Bristles  
         [0047]    [0047] 46  Pad backing  
         [0048]    [0048] 48  Center push hole  
         [0049]    [0049] 50  Prongs  
         [0050]    [0050] 52  Threaded internal cavity  
         [0051]    [0051] 54  Support projections