Patent Application
20200391540
The disclosure of the present patent application relates to holders and carriers, and particularly to a caddy for paint cans and the like.
The use and handling of a conventional paint can presents numerous difficulties for a painter. For example, although paint cans are designed to sit on a flat surface, such as on a floor or a ladder shelf, the paint can must typically be held and/or moved during the actual painting process. In the case of quart and liter cans, such paint cans cannot be easily grasped in one hand, thus making holding and/or moving the cans difficult, particularly when the painter is holding a paint brush in his or her other hand.
Larger cans, such as gallon and multi-liter size paint cans, are provided with a wire bail handle, in which the wire is on the order of 1-2 mm thick. These cans are held by the bail itself, resulting in the can of paint being held vertically by the bail. This position, however, poses a problem of dipping the paint brush, since both the hand holding the bail and the bail itself block access to the paint in the can. In addition, a gallon can full of paint is also very heavy and hard to hold for an extended period of time.
In addition to the difficulties inherent in handling the paint can, the painting process is inherently prone to other difficulties, such as accidental drippage from the paint brush. Further, keeping other supplies, such as wiping rags, together with the can and brush is difficult, particularly since the painting process involves constant movement on the part of the painter. Thus, a paint can caddy solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
The paint can caddy is a holder and carrier for paint cans, as well as associated painting items, such as paint brushes and cleaning rags. The paint can caddy includes a receptacle having a cylindrical sidewall, an open upper end and a closed lower end. The receptacle is sized and shaped to removably receive and hold a conventional paint can. An upper edge of the cylindrical sidewall, adjacent the open upper end, may have an annular groove formed therein for catching accidental drippage or spillage. A brush holder is mounted on the cylindrical sidewall, adjacent the open upper end of the receptacle. The brush holder extends radially outwardly from the cylindrical sidewall and is angled with respect to the plane of the open upper end of the receptacle; i.e., the brush holder is angled upwardly with respect to the open upper end of the receptacle, which is typically parallel to the horizontal.
At least one magnet is secured to the brush holder, allowing a paint brush with a magnetic or paramagnetic material embedded in its handle to be releasably secured to the brush holder. Due to the positioning and angle of the brush holder, the bristles of the brush may be positioned above the open paint can, at a downward angle, allowing paint to drip from the bristles back into the paint can.
A handle is secured to an exterior surface of the cylindrical sidewall, allowing the receptacle to be easily carried and moved. Additionally, at least one hook may be secured to the exterior surface of the cylindrical sidewall, allowing cleaning rags and the like to be suspended therefrom and moved along with the paint can and paint brush.
These and other features of the present disclosure will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.
Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.
As shown in
As shown in
As best seen in
The single magnet 22 of
A handle 28 is secured to an exterior surface 20 of the cylindrical sidewall 18, allowing the receptacle 12 to be easily carried and moved. As shown, the handle 28 may be positioned beneath the brush holder 30. It should be understood that the overall contouring and relative dimensions of handle 28 is shown for exemplary purposes only. Additionally, at least one hook may be secured to the exterior surface 20 of the cylindrical sidewall 18, allowing cleaning rags, such as exemplary cleaning rag R, and the like to be suspended therefrom and moved along with the paint can C and paint brush B.
It is to be understood that the paint can caddy is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the generic language of the following claims enabled by the embodiments described herein, or otherwise shown in the drawings or described above in terms sufficient to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the claimed subject matter.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/860,730, filed on Jun. 12, 2019.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62860730 | Jun 2019 | US |
