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Description  |
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This invention relates to a drip bar for brushes. More particularly, this
invention relates to a drip bar for mounting on a container of fluid
material, such as paint, varnish and lacquer, to allow removal of excess
material from a brush or brush-type applicator dipped into the container.
Generally, cans or containers for paints, lacquers and similar materials
are constructed with an opening around which is formed a radially inward
extending lip with an annular groove for receiving a lid to close the
opening and seal the container to protect the contents from spoilage.
Usually, the lid has a flange which is frictionally engaged within the
groove.
Typically, during the process of applying the materials in the container to
a surface to be coated, a brush is dipped into the container and then
drawn against the lip to remove excess material from the brush.
Invariably, some of the excess material so removed becomes lodged in the
annular groove of the container. This condition causes several problems.
First, any material that accumulates in the groove prevents the lip flange
from exactly registering with the lip groove. This may well destroy the
desired seal, without which the material in the container may spoil.
Second, in replacing the lid, some of the excess material in the groove
may be forced out of the groove and run down the sides of the container
thereby creating a likelihood that the material will come in contact with
persons or objects not intended to be covered with the material. Third,
after the container has been recovered and stored for some period of time,
the remaining excess material in the groove may solidify so as to cement
the lid to the container, thereby making a later removal of the lid for
use of the remaining material difficult. Fourth, the material lodged in
the groove is not used and thereby wasted.
In addition, since a container lip is usually curved and the brush is
straight, it is often difficult to uniformly remove excess material from a
brush by drawing the brush against the lip as excess material tends to be
left near the middle of the brush.
Prior art solutions to some of these problems are illustrated in U.S. Pat.
Nos. 2,491,482; 2,941,692; 2,903,154; and 3,016,169. These patents
disclose various bulky ring assemblies for placement over the entire
container lip and a brush wiping surface integral with said ring which
extends into or across the container opening.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a drip bar for a
paint can or the like which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and
which is simple to use.
It is another object of the invention to provide a drip bar for a paint can
over which a paint brush may be easily moved to remove excess paint.
It is another object of the invention to provide a drip bar for a paint can
which can be easily attached to the paint can.
It is another object of the invention to provide a drip bar attachment for
a paint can or the like which is easily removed.
It is another object of this invention to provide a drip bar for use in
connection with containers for paints, lacquers and similar material which
will help avoid accumulation of the contents of the container on the lip
of the container.
It is another object of this invention to provide a drip bar which allows a
brush-type applicator laden with the contents of the container to be drawn
across the drip bar so as to uniformly remove the excess contents from the
applicator and to re-deposit the excess contents into the container.
It is another object of this invention to provide such a drip bar which is
disposable.
Briefly, the invention provides a drip bar which is comprised of an
elongated member for mounting across an opening of a container and a pair
of tangs, each of which is disposed adjacent to a respective end of the
elongated member for securing the member to the container.
In one embodiment, the drip bar is of integral one-piece construction and
is made, for example, of thin metal. In this embodiment, the elongated
member is a one-piece body having a pair of legs which define a V-shaped
intermediate portion and a tab at each end of one leg which extends from
the leg. In addition, each tang is disposed at a respective end of the
other leg, and extends therefrom in spaced parallel relation to the tab at
that end. The one-piece body also has a fold line extending angularly near
each end of the leg from which the respective tang extends in order to
permit an upward bending of the tang into transverse relation to the
V-shaped intermediate portion.
As constructed, the tangs are longer than the respective tabs at the
respective ends of the drip bar.
The drip bar is utilized with a can, for example, a paint can having an
annular rim defining a channel or groove and an interior annular wall. In
this regard, the drip bar is disposed across the can in chordal relation
to the annular wall. In this position, the V-shaped intermediate portion
is inverted and the tab at each end of the drip bar underlies the rim
while the upstanding tang at each end abuts the vertical wall.
In order to utilize the drip bar, the paint can is initially opened by
removing the usual lid or cover. Thereafter, the tangs at the respective
ends of the drip bar are bent upwardly about the respective fold lines.
Next, the drip bar is slid into place with the tabs at each end underlying
the rim and the upstanding tangs abutted against the vertical wall of the
rim. The drip bar is forced into place and is retained therein by means of
a friction fit. If required, each tang may be bent downwardly into the
channel of the rim so as to further secure the drip bar in place.
After the drip bar has been fixed in place, a brush such as a paint brush
can be dipped into the can to remove the contents. Excess paint or the
like on the brush may be removed by sliding the brush over the leg of the
drip bar facing towards the center of the can. In this regard, the legs of
the drip bar are disposed so that the inwardly facing leg attains an
attitude of about 45.degree. to the horizontal plane.
By running the brush over the drip bar, excess paint is easily wiped off
from the underside of the brush. If paint is desired to be removed from
the upper surface of the brush, the brush can be turned over and run a
second time over the drip bar. Also, only the forward end of the upper
surface may be pulled across the lower edge of the second outwardly facing
leg of the drip bar.
In order to replace a lid on a partially used paint can, the upstanding
tangs are folded down into the channel of the rim and the cover then
replaced. In this regard, the thickness of the tang is such as to permit
reinsertion of the cover into the channel.
The one-piece drip bar can be made of any suitable material, for example
strip steel, and of a suitable thickness, for example in the case of strip
steel, of a thickness of 0.010 inches, to permit bending of the tangs. In
this regard, a one piece body may be stamped out and subsequently folded
along a longitudinal center line to define a V-shaped intermediate
portion. At the same time, the tab and tangs at each end of the drip bar
can initially be made by stamping with a space or gap of for example 1/16
of an inch to 1/32 of an inch spacing therebetween. The scoring line
required for bending of the respective tangs may also be made during the
initial formation of the drip bar and prior to shaping into a V-shaped
portion.
The scoring line is disposed on the leg of the drip bar so as to permit
each tang to be bent into a right angle relative to the remainder of the
drip bar.
The V-shaped cross-section of the intermediate portion of the drip bar
imparts strength to the bar when disposed in place across a paint can.
In another embodiment, the drip bar can be made of multiple piece
construction. For example, the elongated member is made of a material,
such as plastic, with a solid or hollow cross-section while the tangs are
separately made, for example of a suitable flexible material (e.g., strip
steel 0.010" thick) and are slidably mounted on the elongated member. When
the elongated member is placed across the container opening, the tangs can
be shaped to fit snuggly against the upper surface of the lip of the
container thus supporting the member horizontally across the opening,
approximately in the plane of the container opening. The end portions of
the elongated member extend outwardly beyond the point where the tangs
extend from the member so that when the bar is in place across the
container opening, these end portions engage the under surface of the lip
thus preventing vertical displacement of the bar when a brush or the like
is wiped against the member to remove excess paint, lacquer, etc., as the
case may be. The member is preferably made of an inexpensive material
impervious to the contents of the container.
The invention thus provides a straight surface across the container opening
against which a brush-type applicator can easily be wiped to uniformly
remove excess paint, etc., from the applicator. The excess material thus
removed from the applicator will, through the effects of gravity, drip off
the bar and into the container.
By positioning the drip bar chordally relative to the opening of the paint
can, a sufficient space is allowed to permit a maximum width brush to be
placed in the can. The chordal disposition of the drip bar also avoids any
obstruction of the brush even if the handle of the paint can is in the
way.
The invention thus provides a drip bar which can be easily and
inexpensively made. Further, because the drip bar can be made of a simple
shape and of relatively small dimensions, a multiplicity of such drip bars
can be packaged and sold on a commercial basis e.g. as disposable items.
Still further, the drip bar can be easily affixed to a can and
subsequently removed.
It is further noted that the drip bar can be used not only for the
conventional circular type of container, but also may be used for
rectangular or other polygonal shaped lipped containers.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more
apparent from the following detailed description and appended claims taken
in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a paint can employing a drip bar
in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 2 illustrates a plan view of the paint can drip bar of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 illustrates a plan view of a drip bar in accordance with the
invention;
FIG. 4 illustrates a partial cross-sectional perspective view of a drip bar
in place in a paint can in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 5 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a drip bar in place on an
opened paint can in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 6 illustrates a drip bar in place on a closed paint can in accordance
with the invention;
FIG. 7 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a further embodiment of a drip
bar according to the invention in place in a container; and
FIG. 8 illustrates a part perspective view of the drip bar of FIG. 7.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 4, a standard-type can or container 10 for
materials 11 such as paint, lacquer, varnish has a radially inward
disposed annular rim or lip 12 defining a circular container opening 13.
The lip 12 also defines an upstanding peripheral ring 14 having a vertical
annular wall 14a and a concentric recessed annular groove or channel 15
for receiving a lid 16 to close the opening 13 for transportation and
storage. The lid 16 has an annular flange 17 adapted to frictionally
engage upstanding walls of the groove 15.
A drip bar 18 is mounted across the opening 13 of the container 10. As
shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the drip bar 18 has an elongated member in the
form of a one piece body having a pair of legs 18a, 18b defining a
V-shaped intermediate portion and a tab 19, 20 extending from each end of
one leg 18a. In addition, the drip bar 18 has tangs 21, 22 which extend
from either end of the other leg 18b. The tangs 21, 22 are adapted to be
pivoted upwardly along score lines X-Y, M-N respectively relative to the
intermediate portion and bent or shaped to fit snuggly over the ring 14
into the groove 15 of the container 10. The tabs 19, 20 extend outward in
such a fashion that, when the drip bar 18 is properly supported by the
tangs 21, 22 across the container opening 13, the tabs 19, 20 engage the
under surface of the lip 12, thus preventing upward vertical displacement
of the drip bar 18 when a brush 23 is drawn against the bar 18 to remove
excess material 11.
The drip bar 18 can be made for example by stamping from a single piece of
material such as strip steel of a thickness of 0.010" which allows for the
flexibility needed to pivot and shape the tangs 21, 22 into position to
support the drip bar 18.
The "V" shape of the drip bar 18 imparts adequate rigidity to the bar 18 to
withstand the pressure of the brush 23 when the brush 23 is wiped across
the bar 18 to remove excess material 11.
The combined length of the leg 18a and tabs 19, 20 should preferably be
less than the inside diameter of the container 10 so that the bar 18 can
be placed in position chordally across the opening 13 without intersecting
the center-point of the opening 13. This allows the maximum brush width
permitted by the container 10 to be used and avoids obstruction of the
brush 23 even if a handle 24 of the container 10 is in a vertical position
over the opening 13 which is the case when the container 10 is being held
by the handle 24.
The drip bar 18 can be made in varying lengths to fit the various standard
size containers (e.g. gallon, quart). The score lines X-Y, M-N are
preferably made at an acute angle with the axis of the bar 18 so that the
tangs 21, 22 when pivoted upward will be virtually flush against the
inside annular wall 14a of the ring 14.
Thus, each tang 21,22 defines supporting means to prevent the bar 18 from
falling into the can or container 10 by being adapted to be bent over a
portion of the can rim. Also, each tab 19,20 defines anchor means for
placement under the can rim.
Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the tangs 21, 22 can initially be manually bent
flat over the upper surface of the ring 14 (FIG. 5) and subsequently bent
against the radially inward vertical wall of the groove 15 (FIG. 6), when
the lid 16 is fitted into place on the container. In this case, the lid
flange 17 will engage the tangs 21, 22 and shape the tangs 21, 22 to fit
snuggly over the upper surface of ring 14 and against the radially inward
vertical wall of the groove 15, thus, further securing the bar 18 in
place.
Moreover, because the tangs 21, 22 are made of a thin material, for example
of approximately 0.010 inch thickness, the bar 18 can be left in place
across the container opening 13 with the lid 16 closed for further use
when the lid 16 is subsequently removed.
Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, the drip bar can alternatively be made of
multi-piece construction. For example, the drip bar may have tangs defined
by plates 25, 26 and an elongated member 27 which are separate pieces from
each other. As shown in this case, the tangs 25, 26 are slideably secured
to the member 27 in a transverse relationship. To this end, the elongated
member 27 is made with a cross-section, e.g. of triangular shape, and each
tang 25, 26 has an aperture 28 conforming to the shape of the member 27
via which the tang 25, 26 can be slid over one end of the member 27.
In this embodiment, the tangs 25, 26 are made of the same type of flexible
material and engage the upper surface of the lip of a container 10 as
described above. The member 27 is positioned in place so that the apex
edge points downward (FIG. 8) to encourage the re-depositing of the excess
material wiped off a brush into the container 10.
As shown in FIG. 7, the elongated member 27 has extensions or tabs at each
end which extend beyond the tangs 26, 27 and engage the under surface of
the container lip 13 in a fashion similar to the tabs described above.
The elongated member 27 can be shortened to fit a smaller container by
simply cutting the member 27 to the desired length and sliding the tangs
26, 27 inwardly to accommodate the smaller opening of such a smaller
container.
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