HOLDING DEVICES
A manipulator is provided for a bucket or pail having an open end, the manipulator including: a leveraging portion configured to abut a portion of the hand or wrist of an operator; and a connecting portion, wherein the leveraging portion is configured to receive an effort force and allows a substantially rotational force to be applied at or near the connecting portion; and wherein the connecting portion is configured for attaching to a bucket or pail such that the rotational force applied at or near the connecting portion results in rotation of a handle of the bucket or pail away from the open end whilst allowing the bucket or pail to freely pivot with respect to the handle.
The present invention relates to improvements in and relating to holding devices. in particular the present invention is particularly adapted for use in holding buckets and pails having a centrally located pivoting handle.
BACKGROUND ARTMost commonly used pails' or buckets' use a centrally located pivoting handle. These handles are formed in the shape of an arc segment and are attached at or near the upper edge of and on diametrically opposite sides of a pail or bucket. This configuration means that when the bucket is carried by the handle, the centre of mass of the bucket and contents are supported directly below the handle. When the bucket is placed on the ground, the handle is able to freely gravitate and fall to the side of the pail or bucket, thereby allowing free access to the top of the pail or bucket.
One disadvantage of buckets and pails having a centrally locate pivoting handle is that when the bucket or pail is being held by the handle access to the contents of the bucket or pail is greatly restricted by the presence of both the handle and holders hand directly above the opening of the bucket or pail.
An example of where a centrally pivoted handle is particularly disadvantageous is when a paint pail is being held by a painter. It is time consuming for a painter to put the pail down every time they want to move the handle to the side so that they can dip their brush into the contents of the pail, but access to the pail is restricted if they do not.
Typically a painter overcomes this issue by holding the handle with one or more fingers and the edge of the tin with their thumb or other fingers. Whilst this does provide adequate space through which the painter can access the contents of the paint can, it typically results in the painter's hand becoming at least partially coated with paint. Furthermore, holding a paint can in this manner becomes uncomfortable over time.
An alternative method is to tilt the pail by way of the handle, buy using this technique the handle is moved to one side of the pail as the pail is tilted. It is not possible for the pail to be tilted along the axis of the handle pivot as the holder of the bucket has no purchase on the handle along a parallel axis to the handle pivot. Instead the tilting action is performed substantially orthogonally to the handle as the holder is then able to achieve sufficient purchase. The problem with this technique is that the handle remains directly over the pail. By tilting the pail at an angle along an axis which lies between one orthogonal to the handle pivot and one parallel to the handle axis sufficient purchase may be achieved to allow the handle to be moved away from the pail opening without putting the pail on the ground. The problem with this approach is the technique is difficult to control and may result in spillage of paint.
It is an object of the present invention to address the foregoing problems or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.
All references, including any patents or patent applications cited in this specification are hereby incorporated by reference. No admission is made that any reference constitutes prior art. The discussion of the references states what their authors assert, and the applicants reserve the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinency of the cited documents. It will be clearly understood that, although a number of prior art publications are referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that any of these documents form part of the common general knowledge in the art, in New Zealand or in any other country.
Throughout this specification, the word “comprise”, or variations thereof such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps.
Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description which is given by way of example only.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTIONAccording to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a manipulator for a bucket or pail having an open end, the manipulator characterized in that it includes:
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- a leveraging portion configured to abut a portion of the hand or wrist of an operator; and
- a connecting portion,
wherein the leveraging portion is configured to receive an effort force and allows a substantially rotational force to be applied at or near the connecting portion; and
wherein the connecting portion is configured for attaching to a bucket or pail such that the rotational force applied at or near the connecting portion results in rotation of the handle of the bucket or pail away from the open end thereof.
Throughout this specification a ‘leveraging portion’ should be understood to refer to the portion of a simple lever to which a effort force is applied. The resultant of this effort is translated by way of a fulcrum to a resistance, which in the present invention is the weight of the bucket or pail.
In preferred embodiments the bucket or pail may include a handle which pivots on upper diametrically opposed sides of the bucket or pail.
In preferred embodiments the leveraging portion allows a rotational force to be applied to the connecting portion in a direction substantially parallel to the pivot axis of a handle.
In some preferred embodiments the connecting portion may be attached to an existing handle of a bucket or pail so that any rotational force applied by the leveraging portion is translated into rotation of the handle about the pivot axis through which the handle is attached to the bucket or pail.
In other preferred embodiments the connecting portion may attach directly to a bucket or pail.
A connecting portion which connects directly to a bucket or pail may include protrusions or the like which engage in a complimentary and rotatable relationship with the connection points that the original bucket handle attached to. Alternatively, the connection portion may comprise a strap or band which attaches around the body of the bucket or pail, the strap or band providing a first surface configured for being secured to the bucket or pail and a second surface which includes pivotable connection to a handle and integrated leveraging portion. In this regard the exact configuration of the connection portion should not be seen as being limiting.
In preferred embodiments, when no rotational force is applied to the leveraging portion the handle of the bucket or pail functions substantially the same as would a regular bucket handle. The characteristics of a regular bucket handle are that when not being used to carry the bucket or pail the handle may freely gravitate to either side of the pivot axis by which the handle is attached to the bucket, and when carried by the handle the bucket or pail hangs freely below the handle.
It will be understood by a person skilled in the art that by applying a rotational force to the handle by way of the leveraging portion, the bucket will be lifted up and to the side of the hand of the person holding the bucket, thereby providing unimpeded access to the bucket or pail. When held in this manner the buckets weight will be distributed through both the portion of the handle held by the users hand and the point where the user's hand, arm or wrist applies pressure to the leveraging portion. Without the addition of a leveraging portion the user would require a very high hand strength in order to achieve sufficient hand friction with the handle so as to prevent rotation of the handle in the users hand.
In preferred embodiments the connecting portion may include:
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- one or more interfacing portion(s),
wherein the or each interfacing portion is configured to connect to either: - the existing handle of a bucket or pail; or
- the body of a bucket or pail; or
- the attachment portion(s) of a bucket to which an original bucket handle attaches.
- one or more interfacing portion(s),
In some preferred embodiments the connection portion may include:
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- one or more engagement portion(s),
wherein the or each interfacing portion prevents the leveraging portion from rotating independently relative to the connection portion.
- one or more engagement portion(s),
In some preferred embodiments the engagement portion may clamp, clip or otherwise engage with the handle of a bucket or pail.
It will be understood that the form of the handle to which the engagement portion engages will dictate the forms that the engagement portion may take. By way of non-limiting example, a round wire handle as is used on many paint pails may require an engagement portion which includes a clamp with sufficient bite to prevent the handle rotating therein. Alternatively an engagement portion which is disposed on an opposite side of the connection portion to the leveraging portion may be used, the engagement portion being configured to abut the handle at a position nearer to the bucket or pail, the connection portion thereby forming a fulcrum. If the bucket handle is not round in cross-section, such as for example a square cross-section, the engagement portion may simply be an aperture which corresponds to the cross section of the handle, a square handle not being able to rotate in a closely fitting square hole. In this regard the exact configuration of the engagement portion should not be seen as being limiting.
In other preferred embodiments the handle may be a replacement handle that can be substituted for a standard bucket or pail handle.
It will be understood by a person skilled in the art that a replacement handle may be a single unitary construction, whereby the holding member, leveraging portion and arc handle are formed as a single component. However a replacement handle could also be constructed from any number of discrete components, which together form a replacement handle. In use an original bucket or pail handle is discarded and a replacement handle is attached in its place.
Embodiments which comprise a replacement handle may be configured attach to the existing pivot attachment points from which an original handle has been removed.
In yet further embodiments a replacement handle may include a connection portion which is configured to attach to the outer surface of a bucket or pail, a non-limiting list of example connection portions may include:
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- an adhesive connection portion which simply adheres to the side of a bucket or pail; or
- a connection portion which straps around the body of a bucket or pail.
In other preferred embodiments the handle may be retrofitted to an existing bucket or pail handle.
A retrofit handle will be understood to refer to a handle which can be slid onto or otherwise attached to an existing bucket or pail handle. In use the original bucket or pail handle remains attached to the bucket or pail, however a retrofit handle including a leveraging portion and connecting portion is attached to the original handle such that rotational force can be applied to the original handle by way of the leveraging portion.
According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of providing substantially unimpeded access to a carried paint pail by way of a manipulator for a bucket or pail, the manipulator including a leveraging portion configured to receive an effort force from the hand or wrist of an operator and a connection portion, the method including the step of, from a position of holding a paint pail or bucket in a freely hanging position with the handle vertical and held by ones fingers:
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- a) rotating the wrist, hand or arm to a substantially horizontal position, whereby a portion of the hand or wrist abuts the leveraging portion attached to the said handle so as to apply an effort force thereto and thereby rotates the handle to a substantially more horizontal position.
It will be appreciated that rotation of the handle to a more horizontal position results in the bucket or pail being moved from a position directly below the handle a position to the side of the handle when viewed from above. Rotation of the handle results in the handle and the hand of the person holding the bucket no longer impeding access to the mouth of the pail or bucket.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention may provide a number of advantages over the prior art, those advantages including, but not being limited to:
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- providing a comfortable and ergonomic replacement handle to replace or adapt the existing handle of a bucket or pail; and
- providing a system by which a bucket or pail can be comfortably and conveniently carried by a user, whilst allowing free unimpeded access to the contents of the bucket or pail when required.
Further aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description which is given by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
With reference to
The manipulator 1 has been attached to the original handle 2 by way of:
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- removal of the original handle 2 from the bucket 3;
- threading of the original handle 2 through the apertures 4 of the manipulator 1; and
- re-attachment of the original handle 2 and attached manipulator 1 to the handle 2 of bucket 3.
In use, and as shown in
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
Aspects of the present invention have been described by way of example only and it should be appreciated that modifications and additions may be made thereto without departing from the scope thereof as defined in the appended claims
Claims
1. A manipulator for a bucket or pail having an open end, the manipulator comprising: wherein, in use, the leveraging portion is configured to receive an effort force by way of abutment with the back of a user's hand or wrist and allows a substantially rotational force to be applied at or near the connecting portion; and wherein the connecting portion is configured for attaching to a bucket or pail such that the rotational force applied at or near the connecting portion results in rotation of a handle of the bucket or pail away from the open end whilst allowing the bucket or pail to freely pivot with respect to the handle.
- a leveraging portion configured to, in use, abut a portion of the back of the hand or wrist of an operator; and
- a connecting portion,
2. The manipulator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the leveraging portion allows a rotational force to be applied to the connecting portion in a direction substantially parallel to the pivot axis of a handle.
3. The manipulator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the connecting portion is attached to an existing handle of a bucket or pail so that any rotational force applied by the leveraging portion is translated into rotation of the handle about the pivot axis through which the handle is attached to the bucket or pail.
4. The manipulator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the connecting portion attaches directly to a bucket or pail.
5. The manipulator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the connecting portion comprises: wherein the or each interfacing portion is configured to connect to either:
- one or more interfacing portion(s); and
- the existing handle of a bucket or pail; or
- the body of a bucket or pail; or
- the attachment portion(s) of a bucket to which an original bucket handle attaches.
6. The manipulator as claimed in claim 5, wherein the one or more interfacing portion(s) prevents the leveraging portion from rotating independently relative to the connection portion.
7. The manipulator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the engagement portion engages with the handle of a bucket or pail so as to prevent rotation of the engagement portion with respect to the handle.
8. The manipulator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the manipulator is a replacement handle that is configured to be substituted for a standard bucket or pail handle.
9. The manipulator as claimed in claim 8, wherein the connection portion is configured attach to the existing pivot attachment points on a bucket or pail from which an original handle has been removed.
10. The manipulator as claimed in claim 8, wherein the connection portion is configured to attach to the outer surface of a bucket or pail:
11. The manipulator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the manipulator is configured to be retrofitted to an existing bucket or pail handle.
12. A method of providing substantially unimpeded access to a carried paint bucket or pail having an open end by way of a manipulator including a leveraging portion configured to receive an effort force from the back of the hand or wrist of an operator and a connection portion configured for attaching to a bucket or pail, the method including the step of, from a position of holding a paint pail or bucket in a freely hanging position with the handle vertical and held by ones fingers: wherein the bucket or pail remains freely pivotable with respect to the handle.
- a. rotating the wrist, hand or arm to a substantially horizontal position, whereby a portion of the back of the hand or wrist abuts the leveraging portion attached to the said handle so as to apply an effort force thereof and thereby rotating the handle of the bucket or pail away from the open end,
13. (canceled)
14. (canceled)
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 2, 2012
Publication Date: May 8, 2014
Inventor: Donald Bryce Allan (Christchurch)
Application Number: 14/115,795
International Classification: B65D 25/28 (20060101);