Patent ID: 7832567

Claim:
A liquid supply assembly for use with spraying apparatus such as a spray gun, the liquid supply assembly comprising a container ( 11 ; 111 ) for containing a liquid, the container comprising a plastic material and having a lid, a collapsible side wall and a base on which the side wall can stand unsupported in an upright position and said container capable of being mounted on a hand held spray gun ( 1 ) for supply of the liquid to an inlet of the spray gun ( 1 ) through an opening in the lid, and said lid also having a filler opening ( 12 D), separate from the opening for connection to the spray gun, for adding liquid to the container, and a filter ( 10 ; 110 ) for filtering liquid added to the container through the filler opening ( 12 D), the filter ( 10 ; 110 ) comprising an elongate tubular body ( 10 A; 110 A) closed at one end and open at the other end, the open end being provided with a support collar ( 27 ; 127 ) having a lip portion ( 27 A, 127 A) and a neck portion ( 127 B) that is integral with the tubular body of the filter and fits in the filler opening ( 12 D) so that the filter body ( 10 A; 110 A) extends away from the opening ( 12 D) within the container when liquid is added to the container through the filler opening ( 12 D) to filter liquid added to the container characterized in that: the tubular body ( 10 A; 110 A) of the filter ( 10 ; 110 ) has a surface area and volume within the container to permit filling of the container with liquid that is filtered on being added to the container to produce a supply of filtered liquid within the container for supply to the spray gun ( 1 ) when the container is connected to the spray gun ( 1 ); the support collar is connected to a cage ( 128 ) that surrounds the tubular body of the filter within the container; the filter is sufficiently rigid to maintain an elongate, tubular shape, the filter and cage are sufficiently flexible to allow the filter and cage to collapse along the whole length of the filter as the container side wall collapses during use; and the container can be extended from a collapsed condition and filled with the filter and cage in place during use.