Patent Application
20180339548
The present disclosure relates to a device for protecting and preserving a substance in a container. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a device for protecting a liquid in a vessel from falling debris and for minimizing evaporation and skinning of the liquid while the liquid is stored in the vessel.
Paints are typically housed in cylindrical metal containers or cans. The cans may be one of a range of sizes. The most common size in the U.S. is a 1 gallon pail. The can typically includes a sealable top lid that fits tightly, when properly closed, into a rim of the can such that the lid prevents the paint from drying or forming a skin when the can is full or nearly full. However, as the contents of the can are used over time, the ratio of paint to residual air in the can may decrease substantially. This residual air is responsible for allowing the paint to partially evaporate, dry out, or form a thick skin on top (“skinning”). For typical consumers, the paint may be stored in cans for many years.
In addition to drying and skinning, another problem that is especially common with water-based (i.e., “latex”) paint is that the wall of the can and the rim may rust where exposed to water vapor in the air cavity above the paint. When the rust falls into the paint, the color of the paint may be affected. Although known paint covering devices may help prevent increased water vapor content in the air, they do not eliminate humidity already present in the air. Therefore, rusting inside a partly used paint can is a common problem, especially for the rim, which is usually made of steel even when the remainder of the can is plastic. This problem may be exacerbated when the rim is coated with paint during use before storage.
Known paint covering devices are typically inserted into the can above the new level of paint as paint is removed from the can. Thus, the paint is protected from the residual air in the can with the objective of reducing evaporation and skinning. However, these devices typically fail to address the rust problem. They are not designed to intercept falling debris, e.g. rust, to prevent it from falling into the paint. Furthermore, if a covering device scrapes the sides or rim when it is inserted into, or removed from, the can, the device may scrape any rust present and cause it to fall into the paint. This is especially common when, as is typical, the rim has a smaller inner diameter than the inner diameter of the wall of the can. Devices that must be deformed into a shape small enough to pass through the smaller inner diameter of the rim may be especially problematic. For instance, such devices may be especially liable to scrape the side of the can when inserting them into the can.
Thus, a need exists for a paint can shield for use in a can to protect the paint by preventing rust from falling into the paint. Additionally, a paint can shield may reduce evaporation and skinning of the paint while the paint is stored in a partially used can.
According to one aspect, a device for protecting and preserving a substance in a container includes a plurality of overlapping sectors capable of rotating about a pivot point such that the device has a substantially disc shape when fully expanded and a substantially pie shape when partially expanded; and a lip defining an outer diameter of the device when fully expanded. The container may have a circular base and cylindrical wall extending upwardly from the base, and the wall may include an inner surface having an inner diameter. The outer diameter of the device is equal to or greater than the inner diameter of the inner surface.
According to another aspect, a method of using a device for protecting and preserving a substance in a container includes rotating a plurality of overlapping sectors of the device about a pivot point such that the device at least partially collapses; inserting the at least partially collapsed device into the container without the device making contact with the cylindrical wall of the container; and rotating the plurality of overlapping sectors such that a lip of the plurality of overlapping sectors engages the cylindrical wall along the internal circumference.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. Although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the disclosed embodiments, certain methods and materials are now described.
Although the following disclosure relates to protection of paint in containers, the invention is explicitly not so limited. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the following description may also apply to protection of other fluids and/or solids within an enclosed circular container or can, as well as other protective fluids and coatings (i.e., varnish and/or lacquer).
The following description refers to a “paint can shield” or a “fluid cover” or a “paint cover” or a “shield.” These terms are synonymous and no distinction is drawn between them. Described is a device that is placed above some liquid in a vessel after the vessel has been opened and some of the liquid has been removed so as to lessen the amount of liquid in the vessel. Thus, the device may protect the liquid in the vessel from debris falling into it from various sources, e.g. particulates in the air, dust, and rust originating from the vessel itself. Additionally, the relative volume of air in the vessel may be maintained after removal of the liquid by lowering of the device as the liquid is removed.
Referring now to the Figures, vessel 110 may include base 112 and wall 114 extending upward from the base 112. The wall 114 may terminate at rim 116, which is configured to receive the lip of a cover lid (not shown). Handle 118 may assist with the transport of the vessel 110. The shield 100 may be located above liquid 120.
The shield 100 may have at least two, and perhaps even three or more, overlapping sectors 102a, 102b, and 102c that rotate on central pivot point 106. Thus, the shield 100 may either collapse into an arcuate shape (i.e., substantially pie-shaped) or expand into a complete circular shape (i.e., substantially disc-shaped). When expanded, a lip 136 at the perimeter of the shield 100 may have an outer diameter that is greater than or equal to an inner diameter of wall 114 of vessel 110. When collapsed, shield 100 may pass through vessel rim 116 without making contact with rim 116 such that the shield will not scrape rust off the vessel rim 116 or wall 114, for example. When fully expanded, shield 100 may closely fit inside wall 114, due to contact between the entire circumference of the shield 100 with the inside wall 114 as the shield 100 is fully deployed, while being held at a level above the liquid 120 inside the can. In one embodiment, the shield 100 may be allowed to make contact with the top layer of the liquid 120, thereby preventing (or slowing) formation of a surface skin at that layer.
Disc sectors 102a, 102b, and 102c may be sector-shaped portions of the shield 100, which is circular-shaped when expanded. The sectors 102a, 102b, and 102c may be bound by radial edges 101 and lip 136. Each sector 102a, 102b, and 102c may include base 124 connected by an arcuate (or annular) sidewall 130 to arcuate (or annular) lip 136. Pivot point 106 is formed at a radial central axis, and the two radial edges form leading and trailing edges, named according to their function when the pivotingly joined sectors 102a, 102b, and 102c of shield 100 are rotated toward the expanded position. The sector arc lengths may be sufficient to cause overlapping and/or abutting of radial edges 101 when the shield is expanded, thereby forming the full circular disc, as well as providing substantially no gaps and/or holes through the expanded shield 100.
Shield sidewall 130 may have a profile that provides flexibility for constricting the diameter of the shield 100 under pressure from the vessel wall 114 as the shield 100 is expanded. Sidewall 130 may extend upwardly from boundary 132 of generally flat center disc 124 to inside boundary 134 of annular lip 136. In addition, sidewall 130 may extend outward from boundary 132.
Referring to
The profile should allow for some flexibility in the outer diameter of the lip 136 when under pressure from the vessel wall 114 as the shield 100 is expanded to help provide sealing contact between the lip 136 and the vessel wall 114. In addition, to further facilitate flexibility and sealing contact, the thickness and/or constituent material of the shield sidewall 130 and/or lip 136 may be tailored. For example, the shield sidewall 130 and/or lip 136 may be tapered to a thin or feathered outer edge.
Ridges 108a-f of radial edges 101 on one sector may abut rotation stops 109 on other sectors during expansion of the shield 100. This prevents over-rotation, which would open a gap between adjacent leading and trailing edges 101. In one embodiment, ridges 108a-f may be present on the leading edges and rotation stops 109 may be present on the trailing edges. In another embodiment, ridges 108a-f may be present on the trailing edges and rotation stops 109 may be present on the leading edges. In another embodiment, rotation stops 109 and ridges 108a-f may be distributed on a mixture of trailing edges and leading edges. In another embodiment, each trailing edge and each leading edge may include both a rotation stop 109 and a ridge 108a-f. In another embodiment, a portion of the total number of ridges 108a-f present on shield 100 are present on leading edges while the remainder of the total number of ridges 108a-f present on shield 100 are present on trailing edges. In the same or a different embodiment, all stops 109 may be present on the trailing edges. In one embodiment, ridges 108a, 108c, and 108e may exist on three different trailing edges, and ridges 108b, 108d, and 108f may exist on three different leading edges.
As best shown in
Various methods of securing top sector 102a to bottom sector 102c may be employed. As shown in
One or both of finger grip 103 and latch tab 104 may be used to provide points of contact for the user's fingers when collapsing and expanding the shield 100. Thus, finger grip 103 and latching tab 104 may be squeezed together to complete deployment, forcing lip 136 to make contact with the vessel wall 114 around substantially the entire circumference of the lip 136, when the shield 100 is fully expanded. In addition, shield 100 may also include recesses 202 to nestingly receive finger grip 103 and latch tab 104 when a plurality of shields 100 are stacked together for storage, transport, and/or sale, as best shown in
The present invention has been described herein with regard to certain embodiments. However, it will be obvious to persons skilled in the art that a number of variations and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as described herein.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/510,967, filed May 25, 2017, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62510967 | May 2017 | US |
