Container with device for cleaning tools for spreading putties and paints

Abstract

A container with a lid provided with an access slot, which is provided internally with an elastic clamp adapted to retain, in alignment with the slot in the lid, a cleaning element, which comprises two facing layers of permeable and abrasive material, between which a tool to be cleaned is made to slide, the tool being inserted and moved through the slot in the lid.

Description

The present invention relates to a container with a device for cleaning tools for spreading putties and paints, aimed at the field of body shops for industrial machines and vehicles, joiner's workshops, and the building sector.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the background art, operators who fill and paint surfaces spread putties with spatulas and stir paints, in order to mix the components, by means of sticks or other slender elongated elements.

As a consequence of use, the surfaces of these tools become covered with the product spread and/or mixed thereby, and said product must be removed before it solidifies in order to allow the tool to remain efficient without having to resort, for its removal, to grinding wheels or other means which might damage such tools.

In the background art, such tools are cleaned normally by using brushes wet by solvent liquids, by means of which the surfaces to be cleaned of the tools are rubbed until the residues of putties and paints deposited thereon are removed.

This relatively long and laborious operation is normally performed over a tray into which the solvent is poured and on which the tool to be cleaned with the brush is rested. In this operation, the solvent in contact with the air tends to evaporate and make the environment unhealthy.

Further, this cleaning operation entails dangers, since sparks produced by grinding wheels, cigarette tabs or others may fall onto the tray with the solvent exposed to the air and may set fire to the solvent, with possible propagation of the flames to all the parts wet by the solvent and therefore with the easily imaginable dangers that can derive from this.

Another drawback of the method described above is the need, at the end of the operation, to clean the brush with water and rags in order to protect it from the corrosive action of the solvent, thus contributing to the diffusion of unhealthy vapors in the environment.

Finally, another drawback is the need to leave the wet spatulas and sticks exposed to the air in order to dry, often losing them because they are inadvertently thrown away with paper and other waste products in the trashcan.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The aim of the present invention is to provide a device for cleaning tools used to spread putties and mix paints which allows to perform cleaning rapidly and efficiently, reducing the time currently dedicated to this operation.

Within this aim, an object of the invention is to provide a device in which the solvent that helps to clean the tools and sticks is not exposed, or in any case is in a protected position, in order to prevent sparks and cigarette tabs, which currently cause fires, from falling into it.

Another object is to provide a device which is structured so as to hinder the diffusion in the environment of the vapors of the solvent used to assist the cleaning of the tools, so as to make the work environment more healthy.

A further object is to provide a device which allows to clean tools used for spreading putties and mixing paints which is easy to use and allows the best utilization of the solvents used.

This aim and these and other objects that will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by a container with a device for cleaning tools, according to the invention, as set forth in claim 1.

The container is provided in a preferred embodiment with a lid with an access slot, which contains an elastic clamp adapted to retain, in alignment with the slot in the lid, the cleaning element, which comprises two facing layers made of permeable and abrasive material, between which the tool to be cleaned is made to slide, said tool being inserted and moved through the slot in said lid.

A suitable solvent is introduced in such container in order to keep the cleaning element at least moist, so as to facilitate the softening and separation of the residues of putty and paint from the surfaces of the tool to be cleaned.

Such an invention is particularly advantageous, since it simplifies the cleaning of tools, because the operator, through the slot in the lid, inserts the part to be cleaned of the tool into the container and moves it between the abrasive layers, obtaining, after a few movements, the perfect cleaning of the tool.

It is advantageous because the solvent used is collected in the container, by which it is protected against accidental contact with sparks, cigarette tabs and anything else which might set it on fire.

It is advantageous because the solvent used is enclosed in the container, which limits the escape of its vapors, helping to make the environment more healthy.

It is advantageous because the container or tray according to the invention allows easier solvent handling, both of the clean solvent and of the used solvent in which the particles of the residues of the cleaning of the tools are dissolved.

Finally, it is advantageous because it can be provided with pockets intended to accommodate the cleaned tools, thus making it easy to find them and difficult to lose them.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment thereof, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the container according to the invention in the open condition;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the container of FIG. 1 in the closed condition;

FIG. 3 is a lateral front view of the container of FIG. 1 in the open condition;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the clamp-shaped structure intended to clamp together two abrasive cleaning layers when they are inserted within the container of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a front view, taken along a longitudinal direction, of the clamp of FIG. 4, with the cleaning layers in the active position and with a tool to be cleaned inserted between them;

FIG. 6 is a sectional lateral front view of the invention, taken along a transverse plane, in the condition ready for use, illustrating a tool to be cleaned in the insertion position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to the figures, a tray-shaped container according to the invention is provided with a device for cleaning tools adapted for spreading putties and mixing paints. It comprises a container 1, which is provided with a lid 2 and with an access slot 3, an elastic clamp 5 designed to be accommodated within the container 1 and shaped so as to retain a cleaning element 6 in alignment with the slot 3 in the lid 2 that form the cleaning device. The cleaning element 6 is provided with two facing surfaces made of abrasive material, so that a tool 10 to be cleaned—inserted through the slot 3 between said facing surfaces of the cleaning element 6 and moved between them—is freed from residues 31 of putties and paints that have become attached to the surfaces of the tool 10 to be cleaned.

The tray-like container 1 is therefore provided with the lid 2 of the openable type, which is normally joined stably thereto by means of a cylindrical hinge 7 and is locked in the closed condition by means 11, normally of the snap-acting type. The means 11 are constituted, in the embodiment shown by way of example in the drawings, by an eccentric device with an actuation lever 13 and an engagement wing 12 which protrudes from the rim of the lid 2.

The openable lid 2 comprises a top surface 15 with a recess 16, which is directed toward the inside of the container 1 and at the center of which the slot 3 is located. Finally, its perimeter is delimited by a border 14.

The profile of the transverse cross-section of the recess 16 in the lid 2 resembles the shape of an inverted trapezoid, so that it applies a locking pressure to the cleaning element 6 in the position in which it has been inserted in the clamp 5.

The container 1 is provided with at least one pocket, which protrudes from at least one of its perimetric surfaces and is designed to contain the clean tools.

In the preferred embodiment, such as the one shown by way of example in the accompanying drawings, the container 1 is provided with two pockets 20 and 21, which protrude from two of its perimetric surfaces; usually, one is wide enough to accommodate spatulas and the other one is smaller and designed to accommodate the sticks.

The profile of the transverse cross-section of the clamp 5, at least in the preferred embodiment, resembles the shape of an inverted letter omega, with two lateral top edges 23 contoured so as to mate with the top edges of the container 1 which are oriented parallel to the slot 3 on the lid 2 and a sunken, substantially V-shaped central part 24, 25. The edges 23 are at such a mutual distance that when they are coupled to the top edges of the container 1, the facing surfaces 24 and 25 of the V-shaped part of the clamp are moved from a mutually spaced position to the position in which they are substantially mutually parallel, as shown in FIG. 6, and in which they lock the cleaning element 6.

Moreover, the surfaces 24 and 25 have a plurality of openings 30, which are distributed so as to facilitate on the one hand the circulation of the solvent away from and toward the cleaning element 6 and on the other hand the migration of the dirt particles detached from the spatulas and sticks when, through the slot 3 in the lid 2, they are inserted between the two layers of the cleaning element 6.

The elastic clamp 5 therefore has the facing surfaces 24 and 25 which are V-shaped, at least when it is separated from the container 1, and are spaced by an extent usually comprised between 5 and 20 millimeters, in order to contain two abrasive and porous layers which provide the cleaning element 6.

Such layers can be obtained from two separate mats having a rectangular perimetric profile, which are normally provided by means of layers known by the name “Scotch-Brite”, or from a single mat folded into a U-shape.

The elastic clamp 5 has, toward its top, at the sides of the hollow formed by the V-shaped facing surfaces 24 and 25, two substantially horizontal surfaces 27 and 28, which are designed to support the upper edges 29 of the cleaning element 6, pressed by the lid 2, and in particular by the recessed part 16 thereof, so that said cleaning element 6, even when it is actuated by the tool 10 to be cleaned, remains stationary in position.

The cleaning element 6, as mentioned, is normally constituted by two layers of a material of the fibrous type, which are in any case adapted to perform a delicate abrasive action on the surfaces of the tool 10 inserted and moved between them.

Such cleaning element, when inactive, therefore with the container I in the open condition, is arranged so that its upper parts 29 are flexed inward above the surfaces 27 and 28 of the elastic clamp 5, where they are then fastened by the recessed part 16 of the lid, which acts for said edges as a locking means.

During production, the details of the invention may vary without altering the functional logic on which the invention is based and therefore without said variations abandoning the scope of the protection defined by the appended claims.

The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. AR2005A000020 from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.

Claims

1. A container with a device for cleaning tools for spreading putties and paints, the container being a tray-shaped container, provided with a lid having an access slot, and the device comprising: a cleaning element provided with two facing surfaces made of abrasive material; and an elastic clamp adapted to be accommodated within said container and adapted to retain, in alignment with the slot in the lid of the container, said cleaning element.

2. The container with cleaning device of claim 1, wherein said lid is openable, the container further comprising locking means for locking said lid in a closed condition.

3. The container with cleaning device of claim 1, wherein said lid is openable and comprises: a perimetric border; a top surface; a recess in said top surface, said access slot being located in said recess and said perimetric border being accommodatable on an edge border of the container.

4. The container with cleaning device of claim 3, wherein said recess in the lid has a transverse, cross-sectional shape of an inverted trapezoid.

5. The container with cleaning device of claim 1, wherein the container is provided with at least one pocket which protrudes from at least one perimetric surface thereof.

6. The container with cleaning device of claim 1, wherein the container is provided with two pockets which protrude from two perimetric surfaces thereof.

7. The container with cleaning device of claim 3, wherein said elastic clamp has a cross-sectional profile of an inverted letter omega, that has a central sunken V-shaped part and two lateral top borders contoured so as to mate with the edge border of the tray-like container, said two lateral top borders being oriented parallel to the slot on said lid, at such a mutual distance that upon coupling thereof to the edge border of the tray-like container facing surfaces of the V-shaped part of said elastic clamp are forced from a mutually spaced position to a position in which said facing surfaces of the V-shaped part are mutually substantially parallel.

8. The container with cleaning device of claim 7, wherein said facing surfaces of the V-shaped part of the elastic clamp are provided with a plurality of openings.

9. The container with cleaning device of claim 8, wherein said facing surfaces of the V-shaped part of the elastic clamp are mutually spaced by an extent adapted to contain two abrasive and porous layers which provide the two facing surfaces of abrasive material of the cleaning element.

10. The container with cleaning device of claim 7, wherein said elastic clamp has two substantially horizontal surfaces that end with said two lateral top borders and connect to sides of the V-shaped part formed by said facing surfaces thereof, said two horizontal surfaces being adapted to support upper borders of the cleaning element when said upper borders of the cleaning element are pressed by the lid.

11. The container with cleaning device of claim 1, wherein said cleaning element is constituted by two fibrous layers which are adapted to perform an abrasive action on surfaces of a tool inserted and moved therebetween.

12. The container with cleaning device of claim 10, wherein said cleaning element is formed by two mutually facing layers which are adapted to be accommodated between the facing surfaces of the V-shaped part of the elastic clamp, with said upper borders of the cleaning element folded on said facing surfaces of the V-shaped part of the elastic clamp, and locked by pressure applied by said lid when arranged in the closed condition.