Patent Publication Number: US-6705480-B1

Title: Attachment for paint can

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to painting products and in particular to an attachment for paint containers. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     It is known to provide funnel shaped attachments adapted for mounting on the annular rim of paint cans in sealing engagement therewith. However, the paint container attachments of the prior art are not engaged to the can with a sufficiently secure attachment to prevent accidental/inadvertent disengagement of the sealing attachment from the can. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,899,107 issued Aug. 12, 1975 to Gaal discloses a generally funnel-shaped attachment for the top of a paint can which is designed to cover the groove formed in the top of the can. The device of the Gaal Patent relies upon a resilient snap fit retainer section that fits around the upper edge of the can to secure the attachment to the can. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 2,601,190 issued Jun. 17, 1952 to Wells teaches an annular paint can splash protector attachment that extends around and is attached to the top of a paint can. The splash protector of this device includes an inner skirt that extends into the can a short distance. The protector is secured in position on the can by means of a wire bail having its opposite terminals deflected outwardly to form trunnions for projection through openings in the skirt for engaging beneath and interlocking with the rim of the can. This form of attachment may become inadvertently/accidentally disengaged if the wire bail is deformed. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,366,272 to Ballmann discloses a funnel-shaped attachment that attaches in a sealing manner to the top of a paint can. A flat rubber gasket is mounted in a horizontal shoulder of the attachment and fits into the upper annular groove of the paint can, shielding this groove from the paint. This attachment is secured to the top of the can by an elastic band which is mounted on the downwardly extending outer wall of the attachment. This band frictionally secures the member to the wall of the paint can. It is an object of the invention to provide an improved attachment for a paint can or other container that can be securely attached to the can or container. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with an aspect of the invention, there is provided an attachment for a container for storing liquid, the container having a bottom and a peripheral side wall extending upwardly from the bottom to an upper peripheral annular rim that projects horizontally inwardly and defines a container upper opening. The attachment comprises an attachment body having an inner surface and an outer surface and a bottom edge portion engageable with the annular rim. The attachment body extends upwardly and outwardly from the bottom edge portion to an upper edge of the body. Releasable fastener means for connecting and locking the rim to the attachment body in a tight-fitting manner are provided. The fastener means are mounted on the attachment body and are located substantially within the attachment body. Use of the attachment on a container allows the liquid to be poured out of the container via the attachment. The fastener means can connect the attachment body to the rim by engaging the rim from below. 
     The preferred attachment is secured to the liquid container such as a standard paint can by releasable clip members which prevent inadvertent/accidental detachment of the tight-fitting engagement between the attachment body and the container. 
     According to another aspect of the invention, a pouring device is provided for a liquid container having an opening in a top of the container, the opening being surrounded by an inwardly projecting rim of the container. The pouring device comprises an annular body having an inner surface, an outer surface, and a bottom edge portion tightly engageable with the rim of the container during use of the pouring device. The annular body slopes upwardly and outwardly from the bottom edge portion to an upper edge of the body. Releasable clip members are movably mounted on the annular body and are adapted to connect the annular body to the rim so that the bottom edge portion tightly engages the rim when the pouring device is used. When the pouring device is attached to the container, liquid can be poured from the container via the pouring device. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a standard paint can fitted with the attachment in accordance with the invention in the locking position; 
     FIG. 2 is a top view of the preferred embodiment of the attachment of the invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a front side view of the preferred embodiment of the attachment of the invention attached to a standard paint can; 
     FIG. 4 is a detail view taken in the chain dotted circled area marked with a capital A in FIG. 3; and 
     FIG. 5 is a side view taken from the right side of FIG. 3 of the attachment of the invention and a standard paint can. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     As shown in FIGS. 1 to  5 , the attachment or pouring device of the present invention is indicated generally by reference  1 . The attachment  1  is adapted to be secured upon a container, such as a standard paint can  12  having a bottom wall  14  and a peripheral side wall  16  extending upwardly from the bottom wall to an upper peripheral annular rim  18  defining a container upper opening  50 . 
     The attachment includes an attachment body  10  having an inner surface  20 , an outer surface  22  and a bottom edge portion  24  which is sealingly engaged to the annular rim  18 . The attachment body  10  is preferably funnel shaped, extending upwardly and outwardly from the bottom portion  24  to an upper edge  25 . 
     Releasable clip means releasably lock the rim to the attachment body in sealing engagement therewith, allowing the liquid to be poured out via the attachment. The preferred clip means is at least one clip member  26 , and preferably two clip members  26  on opposing sides of the attachment body. The rim  18  includes an inwardly disposed bottom edge  28 . Clip members  26  are pivotally secured to the inner surface  20  of the attachment body. Each preferred clip member  26  includes a clip body  30  being pivotally mounted on a support bracket  31  fixedly mounted on the inner surface  20  of the attachment body, and a clip latch  32  extending downwardly from the clip body  30  and pivotally mounted thereto. In the locking position, best seen in FIGS. 3 to  5 , the clip latch  32  firmly engages the annular rim from below thereby securing the body to the rim. The latch  32  can engage a bottom edge  28  of the rim. Preferably (and as shown in FIG. 4) the clip latch extends into an annular groove  60  formed outwardly from a downwardly disposed flange  34  of the rim when the clip member is in the locked position. This ensures a very secure connection to the paint can. More particularly, the clip latch  32  is formed of a u-shaped steel wire having two terminal ends, each end pivotally secured to side portions of the clip body  30 . The clip latch  32  includes an upwardly hooked bottom end portion  33 . The bottom edge  28  of the annular rim  18  includes the downwardly disposed flange  34  under which the hooked portion  33  is positioned when said clip member is in said locking portion. The clip body  30  can be formed of a bent steel plate, and includes an upper circular tab  36 , which is spaced sufficiently inwardly from the inner side of the attachment body and the upper edge  25  in the locking position, to allow a finger of a user to fit between the inner side  20  and the tab  36  to pull the tab inwardly from the locking position to release the latch  32  from the bottom edge of the rim  18  and thus allow the attachment body to be separated from the paint can rim  18 . It will be appreciated that the clip body  30  being pivotally attached to the clip latch  32  forms an over-centre mechanism to firmly attach the clip latch  32  to the bottom edge of the paint can rim when the clip body is pivoted into the locking position. 
     The Figures illustrate a preferred embodiment of the clip or fastener means by way of example only. Thus it should be understood that other forms of attachment could also be used instead of the specific embodiment of clip members  18  shown and described. Any suitable releasable fastener or clip can be secured to the attachment body  10 , and movable between the locking position where the fastener or clip securely fastens or clips the attachment body  10  to the rim in sealing engagement therewith, and a release position where the rim and attachment body can be separated. For example, suitable clamping means can be used as the fastener(s) to secure the attachment body to the container. 
     Sealing engagement between the attachment body  10  and the paint can annular rim  18  is achieved by means of a rubber or rubber-like seal disposed between the bottom edge portion  24  of the body and the rim  18 . This annular seal is preferably in the form of an O-ring indicated at  38  and seen most clearly in FIG.  4 . Preferably, the bottom edge portion of the attachment body forms a skirt  42  extending inwardly of and below the upper annular edge  19  of the annular rim  18 . Preferably, the seal is mounted on the downwardly facing outer surface  22  of the bottom edge portion  24  of the attachment body. Thus the seal is arranged between this outer surface and the upper, annular edge  19  of the rim  18 . The annular rim defines an upper annular recess  40 , adapted to accept a downwardly disposed mating tongue of a lid (not shown) for the container. Preferably, the seal  38  is located inwardly from the annular recess  40  that extends around the rim. This can lid, which is not shown in the drawings, is removed for painting purposes but this lid may be reattached to the can if a usable amount of paint remains in the can after the paint job has been completed. 
     In the preferred embodiment of the attachment secured to the top of a standard paint can  12  shown in FIGS. 1 to  5 , attached to the attachment body  10  is a handle  44  which is pivotally mounted in holes formed in opposite sides of the attachment body  10 . Preferably the handle is formed with a special, upwardly projecting dimple  45  that is located centrally and that helps to hold the attachment evenly on a hook support. The handle for carrying the can is pivotal from a container carrying position whereat the apex of the handle extends over and across the can opening (best shown in FIGS.  1  and  3 ), to a storage position whereat the handle rests against the side wall  16  of the container. The paint can  12  may be fitted with its standard semi-circular handle  55 . However, this handle would normally not be used when the attachment body  10  is secured to the top of the can. 
     As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, at least one rod member  46 , and preferably two parallel spaced apart steel rod members  46  are secured between opposing sides of the inner surface  20  of the attachment body. Each rod extends over the container upper opening  50  and each provides a paint removing edge. These bars or rods can be used by the painter to remove excess paint from the brush bristles and/or to distribute the paint across the surface of the bristles evenly. It will be appreciated that the excess paint scraped off the brush by the rods  46  will simply drop into the can through opening  50 . By using these bars, it is no longer necessary to use the edge of the paint can itself for this purpose and thus the presence of these rods greatly assists in keeping the edge of the paint can clean of paint. Preferably these steel rods  46  extend horizontally when the paint can is sitting on a flat surface and can be used to hold a paint brush when the brush is put down during the painting process. The rods  46  may be made of any suitable material and are preferably made of high carbon plated steel. 
     It will be understood that the attachment body can be made from any suitably strong rigid material such as a rigid and strong plastic material or steel. A suitable plastic for this purpose would be polypropylene or polyethylene. 
     It is also possible to construct the attachment body without an annular seal  38 , if desired. In this case, a tight-fitting connection between the attachment body and the rim can still be achieved by the use of the clip members  26  which can draw the bottom edge portion tightly against the rim and create a form of sealed joint between them. 
     Although the invention has been described with reference to illustrative embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these precise embodiments, and that various changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art. All such changes and modifications are intended to be encompassed in the appended claims.