The present invention relates to a paint container.

Known paint containers include a main body comprising an outer wall and a base, and a closure which seals onto a rim of the outer wall to prevent paint in the container from drying. Such paint containers also include a handle which is mounted on the outer wall body, and moveable between a resting position which is typically when the container is displayed in a retail display stand, and a carrying position to enable the container to be removed from the display stand.

Known paint containers also include a skirt located on the outer wall of the main body and positioned just below the rim. The purpose of the skirt is to provide rigidity around the rim area. The skirt also includes a projection which retains the handle in the resting position.

Known paint containers typically have a front face, a rear face, and two side faces. The front face also displays contents information, i.e. information about the paint in the container, for example, paint colour and finish. The container is oriented on the display stand such that the front face is visible to a consumer when stood in front of the stand.

It would be desirable to be able to position paint containers on the display stand with either the front face or side face visible, and still be able to view the contents information, as this different display stand configurations. When the front face is wider than the side face, it is possible to display more containers within a given display stand width by positioning the container such that the side face, as opposed to the front face is visible.

Whilst it is possible to simply reorientate the paint container such that either the side face or front face is visible, the handle must still be accessible such that it can be manipulated from the resting position towards the carrying position to enable to the container to be removed from the display stand.

EP 1681242 discloses a four-sided point container according to the preamble of claim 1, having four corners and a handle, in which the handle is hingedly connected to the container at two opposed corners (A, C), and is movable between a resting position and a carrying position via a first corner (D) between the two opposed corners, wherein the rotation of the handle towards a second corner (B) is prevented.
WO 97/48612 discloses a plastic container having a skirt and a handle, in which the skirt has a lower surface and a protrusion extending therefrom.
US 2006/0207994 discloses a container comprising a container body, a lid and at least one handle, wherein the ends of the at least one handle are pivotably connected to opposite sides of said container body, and are movable between a first position in which the handle is resting on the edge of the container and a second position in which the handle is resting along the sides of the container.

Thus, according to the present invention there is provided a paint container comprising a main body, a closure to seal the main body, and a handle, the main body having an outer wall, a base, and a skirt located on, and extending at least partially around, the outer wall, in which the skirt includes a lower surface and has undercut extending therefrom, wherein the undercut has an internal top surface which is vertically above the lower surface of the skirt, and that the undercut enables a user to manipulate the handle to move it from the resting position, where the handle lies between an upper and lower surface of the skirt, towards the carrying position.

Preferably the undercut is positioned on one of the corners of the skirt, thereby enabling the handle to be manipulated when a front or side face of the container is forward facing.

The invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

• Figure 1 is a perspective view of a paint container according to the present invention,
• Figure 2 and 3 are perspective views of the paint container of Figure 1,
• Figures 3A and 3B are side sectional view of part of the paint container of Figure 1,
• Figure 4 is an enlarged perspective view of part of the paint container of Figure 1,
• Figures 5 and 6 are perspective views of the paint container of Figure 1,
• Figures 7 and 8 are end views of the paint container of Figure 1,
• Figure 9 is an enlarged end view of part of the paint container of Figure 1,
• Figures 10 to 14 are perspective views of part of the paint container of Figure 1,
• Figure 15 is a plan view from above the paint container of Figure 1,
• Figure 15A is a side sectional view showing part of the paint container of Figure 1,
• Figure 16 is a plan view from underneath of the paint container of Figure 1,
• Figure 17 is a perspective view of the paint container of Figure 1,
• Figures 18 and 19 are enlarged plan views from underneath the paint container of Figure 1,
• Figure 20 is a perspective view of part of the paint container of Figure 1,
• Figure 21 is a perspective view of the paint container of Figure 1, and
• Figures 21 and 22 are front view of the paint container of Figure 1 on a display stand.

With reference to Figures 1 to 22 there is shown a paint container 10 having a main body 12, a closure 14, and a handle 16.

The main body 12 is defined by a right side wall 18, a left side wall 20, a front wall 22, a rear wall 24, and a base 26. The side walls 18,20 and front 22 and rear walls 24 define an outer periphery 15 of the main body 12 which is substantially rectangular in plan, front, and side profile. The main body 12 includes a rim 13 (partially shown in Figures 3A and 3B) onto which the closure 14 snap-fits and seals in a known way to prevent paint (not shown) in the container from being exposed to the atmosphere.

A front left corner 80 of the container is defined by the intersection between the left side wall 20 and front wall 22, and a front right corner 82 of the container is defined by the intersection between the right side wall 18 and the front wall 20 (Figure 5).

The front wall 22 includes contents information 100 (Figure 1) relating to the paint inside the container 10.

The main body 12 further includes a skirt 28 which is substantially reverse L-shaped, and is reinforced by a plurality of webs 30 (best shown in Figures 16 to 21) extending outwardly from and substantially perpendicular to the outer periphery 15 of the main body 12. The skirt 28 extends around the entire periphery 15 of the main body 12.

With reference to Figures 3A and 3B, the skirt 28 has an upper portion 32 and a downwardly extending portion 34. The downwardly extending portion 34 is substantially parallel to the outer periphery 15 of the main body 12.

The skirt 28 is divided either side of a centre line X-X (Figures 15 and 16) into a front half 51 and a rear half 53. The rear half 53 of the skirt 28 has an outside surface 55. The front half 51 of the skirt 28 has an outside surface 57 (Figure 15A). It can be seen from Figure 15A that the outside surface 57 of the skirt 28 of the front half 51 is inboard of the outside surface 53 of the rear half 51, giving the skirt 28 a stepped profile in plan view.

The skirt 28 has an upper surface 21 and a lower surface 23 (Figures 3A and 3B).

The front half 51 of the skirt 28 has a left face 60, a right face 62, and a front face 64 (Figures 1, 5, 6 and 7).

The left and right faces 60,62 include a projection 66 which extends outwardly from each face 60,62. The front face 64 includes two projections 68 which extend outwardly from the front face 64.

The handle 16 has a left side portion 36, a right side portion 37, and a front portion 38.

With reference to Figures 6 and 15A, the handle 16 includes an integrated inwardly extending pin 70 near to each free end of the left and right side portions 36,37 which locate inside a hole 72 on each left and right face 60,62 of the skirt 28 such that the handle 16 can be moved from a resting position (Figure 6) to a carrying position which is substantially perpendicular to the resting position.

The handle 16 sits upon each of the projections 60,62,66 of the skirt 28 to retain it in the resting position. The stepped profile of the skirt 28 enables an outside surface 73 of the handle 16 to be substantially flush with the outside surface 55 of the rear half 53 of the skirt 28.

The skirt 28 includes an undercut 90 or recess at each corner 92,94 on the front half 51, each corner 92,94 being positioned at the intersection between the left face 60 and the front face 64, and the right face 62 and the front face 64 of the skirt 28. The undercut 90 extends from a lower surface 91 and is arc-like in form although other profiles such as rectangular form are envisaged. The undercut 90 has an internal top surface 99 which is vertically above the lower surface 91 of the skirt 28. The undercut 90 is in a plane defined by the downwardly extending portion 34 of the skirt 28, i.e. the undercut 90 and the downwardly extending portion 34 are in the same plane.

With reference to Figures 16 and 20, the skirt 28 has a profile defined by a radius R_S and a centre point C_s. The handle 16 also has a profile at each corner 95,95, each corner being positioned at the respective intersection between the left side portion 36 and the front portion 37, and the right side portion 37 and the front portion 38. Each handle corner 95,96 has a profile defined by a radius R_H and a centre point C_H. It can be seen from Figure 16 that the handle centre point C_H is radially outward, i.e. closer to the outer wall of the container, of the centre point of the skirt C_S, and that the handle radius R_H is less than the skirt radius R_S. Such an arrangement creates a gap 96 between the skirt 28 and the handle 16 in the region of each undercut 90.

The undercut 90 enables the handle 16 to be manipulated by a user's finger or thumb from the resting position towards the carrying position. The provision of the gap 96 facilitates the user when moving the handle 16 by reducing the likelihood of the user's finger interfering with the skirt 28.

It will be appreciated that a provision of the gap between the handle and the skirt is beneficial irrespective of whether or not the skirt includes the undercut of the invention.

It can be seen from Figure 1 that the handle 16 lies substantially horizontally when in the resting position, and is also substantially parallel to the downwardly extending portion 34, with the exception of the corner regions where the difference in radii of the handle and skirt results in a slight deviation from corner regions being parallel.

It can also be seen from Figure 1 that the handle 16 lies between the upper and lower surfaces 21,23 of the skirt 28 when in the resting position.

With reference to Figure 21 there is shown part of a display stand 102 upon which four identical containers 10 are positioned (only one container being shown in detail). Figure 21 represents the view a consumer would have when standing in front of the display stand 102. Each container 10 is configured such that the contents information 100 is on the side wall 18, and the side wall 18 is front facing so as to be visible to the consumer.

With reference to Figure 22 there is shown the same display stand 102 upon which three identical containers 110 are positioned (only one container being shown in detail). Each container 10 is configured such that contents information 100 is on the front wall 22 as opposed to the side wall, and the front wall 22 is front facing so as to be visible to the consumer.

A comparison of Figures 21 and 22 shows that arranging the containers with the side walls front facing enables more containers to be displayed for a given display stand width. This is advantageous if a greater type of a particular type of paint container needs to be displayed.

It can be seen from Figures 21 and 22, that irrespective of the container having the front or side wall front facing, the provision of undercut 90 on each front corner enables the handle 16 to be manipulated towards the carrying position.

In an alternative embodiment, the undercut need only be present on only one corner of the skirt to enable access when either the front or side wall is front facing.

Whilst the embodiment above describes a paint container where the undercut is positioned on two corners of the skirt, it is also possible to include the undercut remote from the corners, e.g. in the centre of the front face of the skirt. Additionally, an undercut can be included in the side face of the skirt remote from the corner to enable the paint container to be oriented through ninety degrees but still retain access to the undercut when the side wall is front facing.

Thus it will be appreciated that locating a single undercut on one corner enables the handle to be manipulated when either the front or side wall is front facing, whereas, if the undercut is remote from the corners, two undercuts would be required, i.e. one on the side face, and one on the front face, to enable the handle to be manipulated when both either the front or side wall is front facing.

The embodiments above describe a rectangular paint container. The provision of an undercut in the skirt of a non-rectangular container is also beneficial. For example, a triangular container is envisaged where the undercut can be positioned on one, two, or all three corners of the skirt. In the case of a circular container, the provision of an undercut anywhere on the circumferential periphery will enable the handle to be more easily manipulated.