Patent Application
20240149607
The present invention concerns tools for use in painting with a brush or paint roller, to facilitate the painter's job both in painting a wall, ceiling or other article, and in cleaning up the painting tools. More specifically, the invention is directed to paint roller squeegees used in removing excess paint from the paint roller covers; to paint brush holders (or clamps) which can be securely fitted onto the rim of a standard paint bucket by snapping it over the bucket's rim, and to a set of these tools, that is, a plurality of paint roller squeegees, and a plurality of paint brush holders, being of sizes to accommodate an assortment of paint roller covers and paint brushes.
The squeegees are formed unitarily and of a suitable plastic so that they can remove excess paint from the roller cover in one pass or swipe. The squeegees can have different size squeegee rings so as to accommodate the most commonly used nap lengths.
The paint brush holders may be taller or shorter so as to accommodate paint brushes of different paint brush handles but permit the bristles to be suspended into the paint so they do not dry out when in use.
Both articles can be made of a polypropylene resin, which is durable, resistant to the components of the paint, and reasonably stiff, but yielding enough to flex onto the roller cover as need be or onto the paint bucket rim, and resistant to damage from impact.
The components of this invention are described briefly as follows:
The squeegees are made from the same material as the paint brush holders, such as a polypropylene or polypropylene copolymer, to provide a superior balance of stiffness and impact strength, with resistance to breakage, and ultraviolet radiation, and impervious to mineral spirits, alcohol, and detergents, and will not alter the products they are designed to work with, e.g. paints, varnishes, and other coatings. The squeegees and brush holders can be made in any color, such as a bright blue.
The squeegees are designed to remove residual paint from the nap of paint roller covers quickly and efficiently. The embodiments as described here are intended for the one-and-one-half inch roller core cover, which is the most widely used diameter roller in the painting business. These may have different nap lengths, but the rollers with half-inch nap and three-eighth-inch nap are the two that are most widely used. The two roller squeegees disclosed here work on roller covers of all weaves and materials, such as nylon, polyester, or foam, and can accommodate rollers of any length (these rollers come in lengths of three inches to thirty six inches). The squeegees can clear off the residual paint with one easy swipe over the paint roller (as described shortly). The squeegees each have a circular ring or loop designed to accommodate all tight- and loose-woven nap rollers, and include a handle that is affixed to one side of the rim of the squeegee ring and is angled above the plane of the flat side of the ring. A portion of the handle near the ring serves as a thumb grip for precise handling for squeezing the paint from the roller cover.
The circular ring or loop has a flat bottom side which allows the paint to roll off the roller cover in one swipe with no splash or mess. The roller cover can be cleaned while it is still on the paint roller core, so that the roller cover does not have to be held on the rim of a paint can or bucket. Rather the free end of the roller is simply placed onto the paint roller tray, and the paint can be poured from there into the paint can or bucket. The paint roller handle can simply be placed through the round opening in the squeegee ring, and the squeegee moved along the roller frame to the cover. Then the roller free end can be placed onto the paint tray and by pushing the squeegee down, the painter quickly removers the paint from the roller cover in a single swipe.
The inside of the squeegee ring is slanted from a wider top to a narrower bottom edge where the sloping (frustoconic) surface meets the flat circular bottom side.
The roller squeegees of this invention avoid the problems of current techniques such as using a curved side of a paint stirrer stick to squeeze out the residual paint, and require multiple swipes.
The brush holders or brush savers are designed as one-piece clips or clamps, and they snap in place onto a standard plastic paint bucket. The brush holders each have a vertical post or arm that has a horizontal peg near its top end. The peg accommodates the hole through the paint brush handle that is near the handle's top or upper end. The paintbrush holders are designed to fit over the upper rim of the bucket. The paint brush holder is designed as a brush saver, and holds the paintbrush bristles partially submerged in the paint in the bucket when the paintbrush is suspended from the peg at the upper end of the holder.
The brush holder(s) are molded of a superior polypropylene copolymer which has an optimal balance of stiffness and strength. The holder can be snapped into place on the top rim of the bucket, and will hold itself and any suspended paintbrush in place even when the bucket is picked up and moved around. This design ensures a steady grip of the paintbrush holder onto the bucket (and brush) when the bucket is picked up and carried up or down a ladder. The polymer used in the paintbrush holder(s) provides an optimal balance of stiffness and impact strength, and can have optimal color such as a bright blue. The plastic material is resistant to ultraviolet radiation and to any of the solvents commonly used with paints and other coatings and finishes.
The described embodiments of the paintbrush holder fit onto a standard, commercially available two-gallon plastic paint bucket. These are the primary paint containers used in residential and commercial painting. The two-gallon buckets have a one-eighth inch top ring that is adapted for accepting a bucket lid. The bucket also has a number of stabilizer rings spaced below the upper rim and top reinforcing ring. The brush holders are designed to engage the top ring and to clear all of the stabilizer rings, so that the brush holders attach and detatch quickly and easily, and have a stable attachment onto the paint bucket. Once clipped onto the paint bucket, the paintbrush holder will not detatch when the bucket is bumped, jostled, moved, or carried up or down a ladder. No further clips, clamps or magnets are needed, the peg (or hook) is always ready for hanging the paint brush. The paint brush holders will not interfere with normal painting operations. The upper arms (e.g., risers or posts) can be in different sizes so as to accommodate normal short-handle brushes in a range from 9 inches to 10-½ inches in length and 1 inch to 4 inches in bristle width. A taller version can be used brushes in a range from 11 inches to 12-½ inches in length and 1 to 4 inches in bristle width. These brush holders as used with the paint brushes (of long or short length handles) allow the respective brush or brushes to be suspended with the tips of the bristles in the paint, for both flat edge and angled brushes.
As discussed before, the present invention concerns painting of walls and other structural components of a building, e.g., in this case set of paint roller squeegees for different nap lengths of roller covers, and a set of paint brush holders of different heights that can clip onto the top of a standard plastic paint pail. Examples of a possible embodiment of the roller squeegees are shown in
An embodiment of the paint roller squeegee of this invention is shown in
The first squeegee 10 (
A similar squeegee 20 is shown in the perspective, plan, and elevation cross section of
Other squeegees can be made for other nap lengths and scaled accordingly.
Any paint that is still on the squeegee tool can easily be cleaned off.
Paint brushes of professional quality are expenses and need to be properly maintained, even during a painting job. If a paint brush is simply placed with the bristles down into the paint in a paint can or bucket, the bristles can bend or crush against the bottom of the paint can or paint bucket. Also, if the paint brush is left in open air, the paint on the bristles will quickly dry out, which can ruin an otherwise good paintbrush. Accordingly, the brush holder of this invention was developed to hold the brush with the bristle tips in the paint, but keep the bristles above the bottom of the paint can or other paint container.
Embodiments of the paint brush holder(s) of the present invention are shown in
For the taller embodiment of paintbrush holder 40, as shown
At or near the upper end of the upper arm 42 a hook or hang peg 49 is configured to extend generally horizontally (over the inside of the paint bucket) for hanging a long-handle paint brush. There is typically a hole bored through the end of the paint brush handle, which fits over the hook 49. This can be of plastic, molded with the remainder of the paintbrush holder, or can be a metal insert that is molded into the arm 42 or inserted and attached after molding.
The corresponding embodiment of the paintbrush holder 50 for short handled paint brushes can be configured as shown in
As shown in both embodiments, the paint brush holder can be formed with inward portions of both sides recessed, to relieve some of the material and relieve some of the weight.
The placement of the paint brush holder (here the holder 40) onto the standard paint pail or bucket 60 is illustrated in
The paint brush holder 40 (or clip) can be slipped over the top rim 62 of the bucket 60 (
With VOCs as low as 0.05 ml per gallon, to zero per gallon, when the brush is not in use, it must be submerged in paint, or it dries in minutes. This brush holder serves that purpose.
Most A-frame ladder painting and all extension ladder painting require a two-gallon bucket hooked on the side of the ladder at an angle. During times of adjusting safety ropes, maneuvering, scraping, etc., the brush holder allows the brush to hang neatly in the bucket. When cutting in walls and ceilings, the brush is moist and undamaged on the holder. While rolling, during ladder moves, adjusting drop cloths, painting woodwork, during down-time, breaks, phone calls, and the like, the brush is always in the holder on the paint pail.
The one-gallon storage paint can was never meant to paint out of Starting with a full or half can of paint results in carrying the brush in one hand and the can in the other. During moves and down-time, placing the can on the floor and the brush on the rim fills the rim with paint, resulting in the lid not sealing or opening properly, and also dripping paint onto the outside of the can. Instead, with this invention the painter paints out of the bucket and all the above-noted problems of the paint can are avoided. The painter simply clips the brush holder onto the two-gallon bucket, and fills the bucket with the desired amount of paint, and then cleans the rim of the one-gallon paint storage can and re-caps it.
The foregoing embodiments of this invention are intended to exhibit a few of many possible implementations of the present invention. The invention is not limited only to the precise embodiments as shown and described. Rather, many modifications and variations are possible within the scope of this invention as set forth in the appended claims.
