Patent Application
20060207994
The current invention relates to a container with a container body, a lid, and at least one handle where the ends of the at least one handle are pivotably connected to opposite sides of said container body.
Many containers of this type have a single pivotable handle made from a bent wire, connected to opposite sides of the container and at the container's centre line. A common example of this type of container is a can of paint. The two ends of a bent wire handle are pivotably attached to the sides of the body of the paint can, close to its top edge. When the container is being carried, the handle is pivoted up for the user to hold on to. When the handle is released, the handle pivots down and rests on the side the paint can. This allows easy access to the contents of the paint can.
Other containers, such as the one provided by WO 2004/065227, have two pivotable handles. As with a traditional paint can, when the container is not in use, the handles pivot down and rest, one on each side of the container. This provides easy access to the lid area.
However, containers of this type suffer from a number of disadvantages. A first disadvantage is that when the handle(s) is pivoted down along the side of the container, the handle(s) partially covers the labelling on the side of the container. This can prevent the user from recognising the contents of the container.
Another disadvantage is that when the handle is pivoted down along the side of the container, it is difficult for the user to access the handle. If the user wishes to transport the container, the user must first identify on which side of the container the handle is, and then reach down along the side of the container and pivot the handle up into its carrying position.
Furthermore, if the container has two handles the user must first recognize that the container has two handles and then reach down along each side of the container to gather the handles and then pivot them up into their carrying positions. If the user fails to see the second handle and lifts the container by one handle only, the container will tip over instead of being lifted.
It is therefore a first aspect of the current invention to provide a container as mentioned in the introductory paragraph where the handle(s) is easily accessible to the user while still allowing the user easy access to the contents of the container.
A second aspect it to provide a container as mentioned in the introductory paragraph where the location of the handle(s) is easily recognizable and accessible for correct use while still allowing the user easy access to the contents of the container.
A third aspect of the current invention is to provide a container as mentioned in the introductory paragraph where the handle(s) does not cover the labelling on the side of the container.
A fourth aspect of the current invention is to provide a container as mentioned in the introductory paragraph where the container is stackable.
The new and unique feature whereby the above mentioned aspects are provided is that at least one end of the at least one handle is displaceable between a first position and a second position.
In this way, one or both ends of the at least one handle are allowed to be displaced with respect to the container, thereby effectively increasing or decreasing the length of the handle. When the length of the handle is short, the handle rests on the edge of the container body or the edge of the lid. In this way, the handle is very visible as well as being easily accessible. Since the handle rests on the edge of the container, the container is still stackable. When the length of the handle is increased, the handle can pivot past the edge of the lid and past the edge of the container allowing it to rest along the side of the container as is known in the state of the art. In this way, the user can easily open the container and get access to the contents of the container.
In a preferred embodiment according to the invention, the at least one end of the at least one handle can be connected to said container body via at least one key and slot arrangement. This is a simple and inexpensive mechanism. The slot can furthermore be formed in the container body and the at least one end of the at least one handle can form a key which is arranged in the slot. In an opposite embodiment, the slot can be formed in the handle and a key mounted on the container.
When the slot is arranged on the container, the slot can be mainly vertically arranged. In this way, gravity ensures that the handle will tend to fall down in the slot and assume the same position each time the handle is released.
The slot can furthermore be placed at an angle to a vertical centre line of the container body. This increases the effect of displacing the ends of the handle.
In order to provide a container which is more stable, the container can comprise two handles. When there are two handles, the ends of the handles can be connected to the container body via slots formed in the container body and the slots can be placed in the container body offset from the centre line of the container body.
In a preferred embodiment, the slots can be angled with respect to the centre line of the container body in such a way that the top portions of the slots are further from the centre line of the container than the bottom portions of the slots. In this way, moving the handle from the first position to the second position effectively lengthens the handle more than if the slot were purely vertical.
The invention will be described in more detail in the following with reference to figures which show example embodiments according to the current invention, where
The containers 1 shown in
In this particular embodiment, two handles are used to give more stability to the container when being carried. Due to the fact that the two handles are attached to the container at a distance from each other, the container is less likely to tip about the handle attachment point. This is important when the container has a relatively high centre of gravity.
As can be seen from
In the current embodiment, the slots are arranged such that they are placed at an angle α to the centre line 7 of the container. The bottom portion 8 of the slot 6 is closer to the centre line 7 than the top portion 9 of the slot 6. Furthermore, in the current embodiment, the slot is a linear slot. However in certain circumstances, a slot which is not linear could also be imagined. For example a slot which has a notch could be imagined. The notch could lock the ends of the handle in a certain position, requiring the user to perform a certain action, before the ends of the handle could be put into a different position.
By arranging the ends 5 of the handles 4 in slots, the effective length of the handles 4 can be increased or decreased. In the current example, when the ends of the handles are in the top part 9 of the slot 6, the handle 4 is effectively longer than when the ends 5 of the handles 4 are in the bottom part 8 of the slot 6. In this way, when the ends 5 of the handles 4 are in the bottom part 8 of the slot 6, the handle 4 is not long enough to go past the edge 10 of the lid 3. The handle 4 therefore rests on the edge 10 of the lid 3. This position is shown in
When the ends 5 of the handle 4 are moved to the top part 9 of the slot 6, the handle 4 is effectively lengthened. In this way, the handle 4 is long enough to pivot past the edge 10 of the lid 3 and the edge 11 of the container 1. This is shown in
The slots 6 are arranged in a mainly vertical manner in order to provide a deterministic manner of operation. When the user lifts the container with the handle, the ends of the handles will always go to the top part of the slot. When the user releases the handles, the ends of the handles will fall down to the bottom part of the slot.
Since the slots 6 in this case are angled with respect to the centre line 7 of the container 1, the effect of displacing the ends 5 of the handles 4 is increased. This is due to the fact that when the ends 5 of the handles 4 are in the top part of the slot 6, the handles are displaced both upwardly and outwardly and the effective length of the handles is therefore increased more than if the slots had been purely vertical.
It should be mentioned that the container in the example above had a lid, however, it could easily be imagined that the current invention could also be used with containers which don't have a lid. In this case, the handle will rest on the edge of the container instead of on the lid.
Furthermore, the above embodiment has two handles. However, it should be obvious to the person skilled in the art that a container with a single handle (not shown) would also be possible according to the current invention. In this case, the container could furthermore be equipped with a mechanism, such as a tab, which ensures that the handle always pivots to the same side.
It could also be imagined that spring biasing means (not shown) could be arranged in the slots, in order to bias the handle into its first position. The user would then need to apply a force to the handle to counteract the spring force when it is desired to displace the handle from its first position to its second position. In this particular case, the slots could be arranged angled with respect to the centre line of the container in such a way, that the top portions of the slots were arranged closer to the centre line of the container than the bottom portions of the slots. In this way, the ends of the handle would always be in the top portion of the slots, unless the user deliberately forced the handle into its second position. This would prevent the handle from displacing each time the user picked up the container.
In another embodiment (not shown), the container could be arranged in the manner that only one end of the handle was displaceable. In this way, a lower cost container would be provided, since the displaceable mechanism would only need to be located on one side of the container.
Furthermore, it could be imagined that the handle itself was extendible. This could for example be implemented in that the handle was made from two independent parts which were displaceable with respect to each other. This could for example be a sort of telescoping mechanism.
Furthermore, it is noted that it should be obvious to the person skilled in the art that many other embodiments which are within the scope of the invention are also possible.
