WO1999003690A1

WO1999003690A1 - Plastics containers

Info

Publication number: WO1999003690A1
Application number: PCT/GB1998/002135
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michael Humphrey Lewis
Original assignee: 3A'S Ltd
Current assignee: 3A'S Ltd
Priority date: 1997-07-18
Filing date: 1998-07-17
Publication date: 1999-01-28
Anticipated expiration: 2000-01-18
Also published as: AU8450698A; GB9715230D0

Abstract

The containers each comprise at least two container parts (2, 4) releasably held together by a common lid (10). The common lid comprises means (18) for supporting a hand-held instrument, such as a paint brush. Preferably, the common lid has an access hole (12) provided with a sliding cover (14). Each of the container parts may have its own individual lid (6). The containers are particularly suitable for use by children.

Description

Plastics Containers

This invention relates to containers and in particular, but not exclusively, to containers for use by children, i.e. toy containers.

It is well known that many children of all ages enjoy to paint, but that especially with younger children, they are prone to make a mess in doing so. At least part of this mess is often due to spillage which occurs when a container for liquid paint, or for water used to wet or clean paint brushes, is knocked over.

The present invention seeks to provide a way of at least partially alleviating such a problem and provides a container comprising two plastics container parts releasably held together by a common lid, the common lid comprising means for supporting a hand-held instrument. By holding the two container parts together by a common lid, stability is improved, so that if one or both container parts is/are used to hold a liquid, there is less chance of spillage.

The two container parts may be used to hold anything suitable . For example one container part could hold water for wetting or washing out paint brushes and the other container part, the brushes themselves. Equally though they may be used for toys or accessories for toys. The container need not have just two container parts, it may have more than two and indeed it may have many of them, each being held to the others by a common lid.

At least one of the container parts is releasable from the common lid, for example to facilitate cleaning or provide a different mode of use. Preferably, both or all of the container parts are releasable from the common lid. It is preferred for the or each releasable container part to be reattachable to the common lid. Whilst the common lid may simply form a complete closure over the container parts, it preferably has an access hole defined therein to allow communication with the inside of one of the container parts. In presently preferred embodiments at least one of the container parts has its own individual, e.g. lower, lid which is releasably secured to the common, upper lid. Preferably the individual lid has a hole therein arranged to cooperate with a corresponding hole in said common lid. Thus the hole in the individual lid may cooperate with the access hole in the common lid to give access to a respective container part.

Preferably the means for supporting a hand-held instrument comprises at least one hole arranged so that the instrument may be inserted therethrough. In particularly preferred embodiments, one or more openings are provided for receiving one or more paint brushes . The container can thus provide a place to receive a paint brush, which when properly used, can avoid a wet paint brush from being left on e.g. a table or the floor. Such a paint brush receiving opening may^' be formed by a single hole in the common lid, or by two cooperating holes respectively in a common, upper lid and a lower lid. In a preferred embodiment the hole for supporting a hand-held instrument comprises a countersunk portion. This could be used for example to catch drips from a brush which is held in the hole. Alternatively, or additionally, a drainage path into the respective container part is provided adjacent to the hole. This may for example be provided by gaps between a plurality of radially inwardly projecting teeth for supporting e.g. a paint brush.

A non-spill opening may be provided for one or both of the container parts, comprising for example a downwardly depending funnel. Such a non-spill opening further reduces the likelihood of spillage. This opening may be formed on the common lid, or on an individual lid.

Preferably the container has a handle attached thereto. This handle may be attached at any convenient location e.g. to the common lid or the bodies/individual lids of one or more container parts. Most preferably the handle is removable, which in some embodiments will allow the container parts to be separated once the common lid has been removed. The container parts may physically contact each other when held by the common lid, but in a preferred embodiment they are not in contact . Greater stability can be achieved if the container parts are spaced apart. The container parts may be made in any convenient shape and do not even need to be the same shape.

Preferably though at least one, most preferably both or all, of the container parts is/are generally cuboidal in order to allow them to be secured to the common lid adjacent to one another as neatly as possible. This also prevents them from rolling when they have been separated from the common lid and placed on their side. However in other embodiments, these advantages might be achieved by arranging for only confronting faces of the container parts to be substantially flat e.g. each of two container parts being prismatic with a semi-circular cross-section.

Whilst the most preferred shape for the container parts is generally cuboidal, in practice one end may have a slightly smaller cross-section than the other to facilitate its removal from a moulding tool, for example the container parts may taper from their upper to their lower ends .

Some of the advantages of the present invention may also be provided by similar containers to those described above which may not necessarily have means to support a hand-held instrument . From a further broad aspect therefore, the invention may be seen to provide a container comprising two plastics container parts releasably held together by a common lid.

Certain preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a container in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the container of Fig. 1 with the brushes removed to show details of the recesses;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation showing certain parts of the container separated from each other;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of another embodiment of the invention. Referring firstly to Figs. 1 and 3, the container comprises two plastics cuboidal container parts 2, 4 secured to a common lid 10. The container parts and the common lid are made from polypropylene, although any other suitable non-toxic plastics material may be used. The container part 2 has an individual removable lower lid 6, which may be retained on the container part 2 or removed therefrom independently of the common lid 10. The other container part 4 is secured to an integral downwardly extending portion 8 of the common lid 10, the portion 8 being shaped so as to give the appearance that the container part 4 has an identical lid to the lid 6 on the first container part. In an alternative embodiment, the portion 8 could in fact be formed as a separate, lower lid. The two container parts 2,4 have an integrally moulded lip around their upper rim, the lip of container part 2 being shown at 2a in Fig. 3. The lip 2a is arranged to be a tight friction fit between a downwardly extending skirt 6a and the inside face of wall 6b of the individual lid 6. Similarly the lip of container part 4 (not shown) is a tight friction fit between a skirt 8a and wall 8b of the lid portion 8. The individual lid 6 is formed on its upper side with a perimetric projection 6c which is provided with recesses (not shown) arranged to receive clips (not shown) formed on the inside face of the wall 10b of the common lid 10 in order to secure the individual lid 6 to the common lid 10.

A handle 30 is removably clipped to the outer facing edges of the individual lid 6 and the lid portion 8, respectively by means of studs 32, to facilitate carrying of the container. The common lid 10 has an access hole 12 beneath which is a corresponding hole in the individual lid 6 which opens into the container part 2. The hole in the lid 6 is selectively coverable by a sliding cover 14 slidingly retained between the individual lid 6 and the common lid 10. The hole in the lid 6 is defined by side walls 16 which are inclined inwardly to form a 'non- spill ' entry to the container part 2. This may be seen most clearly from the front elevation of Fig 3. Thus this container part 2 with its individual lid 6 could be used to hold water to wet or wash out paint brushes, since it would tend not to spill its contents if accidentally knocked over.

The part of the common lid 10 covering the other container part 4 has a number of holes 18. These holes are adapted to receive the handles of paint brushes. As may be seen more clearly from Fig. 2, the holes 18 have recessed lips 20 around their inner edges. Thus when the handle of a paint brush is inserted into the hole it will rest against or lodge in the lip 20 (depending upon the relevant diameters) , but the upper part of the walls of the aperture 18 will be spaced from the handle forming a recess to catch drips .

The width of each container part 2,4 differs by approximately 2.5 mm from its upper to its lower end in order to enable it easily to be removed from a moulding tool . This results in the spacing between the two parts 2,4 to be approximately 5 mm greater at their lower ends, although this has no significant effect on the rigidity of the assembled container.

Once a child has completed his or her play with the container, the handle 30 may be undipped and then the individual lid 6 and container part 4 are undipped from the common lid 10 so that the components can be cleaned separately before re-assembly. Moreover, one or both of the container parts 2, 4 may be undipped from the common lid 10 for use separately; with or without an individual lid 6 in the case of the first container part 2. Lid 6 may for example be removed and then a further lid may additionally be provided to close the first container part 2. Such a further lid may have an access hole and sliding cover similar to the access hole 12 and sliding cover 14 of the common lid 10, or it may have no openings .

Another embodiment is shown in Fig. 4. This embodiment is identical to the previous one except that the holes 22 formed in the common lid 10 have a different shape in that they are substantially circular as before, but have teeth 24 formed around their internal edge. The teeth 24 serve to support a paint brush handle or the like whilst allowing drips to pass between the teeth 24 and into the container part 4 below without causing a mess.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example the container parts may be a shape other than cuboidal e.g. a semi-circular prism. Furthermore, individual lids may be provided for both or neither of the container parts rather than just one of them. Also more than two container parts may be provided e.g. four having quarter-circle prismatic shape. The common lid or individual lids may be interchangeable with others that are supplied as part of a kit in order for the container to be usable for different purposes.

Claims

Claims :

1. A container comprising two plastics container parts releasably held together by a common lid, said common lid comprising means for supporting a hand-held instrument .

2. A container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the common lid has an access hole defined therein to allow communication with the inside of at least one of the container parts.

3. A container as claimed in claim 1 or 2 , wherein one of said container parts comprises an individual lid which is releasably secured to said common lid.

4. A container as claimed in claim 3, wherein said individual lid has a hole therein arranged to cooperate with a corresponding hole in said common lid.

5. A container as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the means for supporting a hand-held instrument comprises at least one hole arranged so that the instrument may be inserted therethrough.

6. A container as claimed in claim 5, wherein the hole for supporting a hand-held instrument comprises a countersunk portion.

7. A container as claimed in claim 5 or 6, wherein a drainage path is provided adjacent the hole for supporting a hand-held instrument.

8. A container as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said container parts taper from the upper ends thereof .

9. A container comprising plastics container parts releasably held together by a common lid.

10. A container as claimed in any preceding claim wherein said common lid is made of plastics.