US3223389A

US3223389A - Paint mixer

Info

Publication number: US3223389A
Application number: US343795A
Authority: US
Inventors: Clyde S Simmonds
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1964-02-10
Filing date: 1964-02-10
Publication date: 1965-12-14
Anticipated expiration: 1982-12-14

Description

Dec. 14, 1965 c. s. SIMMONDS 3,223,389

PAINT MIXER Filed Feb. 10, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I NVE N TOR. @[yde S. Simmonds BY MW /MAW Dec. 14, 1965 c. s. SIMMONDS PAINT MIXER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 10, 1964 United States Patent 3,223,389 PAINT MIXER Clyde S. Simmonds, 6108 Elder Creek Road, Sacramento, Calif. Filed Feb. 10, 1964, Ser. No. 343,795 3 Claims. (Cl. 259-106) This invention relates in general to a portable, electric motor driven paint mixer, and particularly to one mainly intended for mixing paint in large cans such as the standard five gallon size or larger.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a portable, electric motor driven paint mixer having mixing paddles which in an initial folded position are adapted to be inserted, along with their supporting shaft through the relatively small pouring opening provided in the lid of such a paint can, while the operating mechanism of the mixer remains on the outside of and is supported from the can.

In cans of this type the pouring opening is disposed relatively close to one side of the can, and another important object of the invention is to provide the mixer with a novel mount arranged to be supported from one side of the can in such a manner that, while the paddle supporting shaft of the mixer will project through the offcenter pouring opening of the can, the mixing paddles, which are on the outer end of the shaft, will be disposed in an operating position in the can near the central area thereof and so that the best mixing action is obtained.

By reason of the above arrangement, the paint may be thoroughly mixed in the can Without first removing the lid therefrom. As a result, the mixing operation can be carried out without danger of the agitated paint being splashed from or overflowing the top of the can.

An additional object of the invention is to mount the paddles of the mixer in such a manner that they may be adjusted to suit paint materials of different viscosities.

It is also an object of the invention to provide mixer supporting, can engaging hangers arranged so that cans of different diameters may be engaged by the hangers without loss of effectiveness or rigidity of support.

A further object of the invention is to provide a paint mixer which is designed for ease and economy of manufacture.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a' practical, reliable, and durable paint mixer and one which is exceedingly effective for the purpose for which it is designed;

These objects are accomplished by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the improved paint mixer, partly broken out and in section, shown as mounted on a closed paint can.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional elevation taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional plan taken on line 3- 3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the mixer, showing a modified form of hanger unit and mixing paddle; the paddle being disposed in a relatively small open can while the hanger unit is mounted on a larger can in which the small can is disposed.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional plan taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation partly broken out and in section, of the paddle shown in FIG. 4 but with added mixing blades.

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Referring now more particularly to the drawings and to the characters of reference marked thereon, and at present to the structure shown in FIGS. 1-3, the paint mixer comprises an electric motor 1 (preferably of twospeed type) controlled by a switch 2 mounted on top of the motor and interposed in the current supply cord 3 leading to the motor. The lower end of the motor shaft 4 is detachably connected, by a coupling sleeve 5, with an elongated extension shaft 6 which is thus in effect a part of the motor shaft itself.

The lower end of the shaft 6 is formed with an enlarged vertically slotted head 7 in which a pair of separately pivoted mixing paddles 8 are mounted. The arrangement is such that the paddles 8 may depend from the head 7 in substantial alinement with the shaft 6 and in side-by-side relation as shown in full lines in FIG. 1, or by reason of rapid rotation of the shaft and the resultant centrifugal action, may swing out to extend at right angles to the axis of the shaft as indicated in dotted lines in FIG. 1. The shaft 6 being removable, other shafts, having paddles of different shapes or pitches, may be installed in lieu thereof.

The motor 1 is adapted to be supported from a large standard size paint can 9 in the following manner:

A C-shaped frame 10 straddles and is mounted on the motor 1; such frame including a straight portion 11 adjacent and parallel to one side of the motor. A pair of transversely spaced rigid bars 12 are secured to and depend from said frame portion 11; said bars at their upper end being connected by a cross handle 13 so that the device can be easily carried and manipulated.

At their lower end, the bars 12 extend some distance below the sleeve 5 and are secured on an arcuate hanger 14 having a curvature the same as that of the periphery of the can 9. The hanger 14 is shaped in cross section 'to engage over the rim bead 15 of the can 9 in holding relation as shown in FIG. 1; such hanger including a depending leg 16 which engages the outside of the can some distance below the bead 15, and to the back of which leg 16 the bars 12 are secured.

When the mixer is to be used, the can 9 remains closed and the only access to the interior thereof is had through the initially capped pouring opening 17 in the lid 1-8 of the can, and which opening is as usual close to one side of the can as shown. The hanger 14 is designed and positioned relative to the bars 12 and the shaft 6, and with regard to the distance from the opening 17 to the can rim head 15, so that said shaft 6 will project through such opening 17 when the hanger 14 is engaged with the rim bead 15. Also, the mixer as a whole will then be disposed at an acute angle to the axis of the can and such that the lower end of the shaft 6, and the paddles 8 thereon, will be close to the bottom of the can in substantially the central area thereof.

With the mixer thus supported from the can, operation of the motor 1 and resultant rotation of shaft 6 will cause the paddles 8 to move, by centrifugal force, radially out to paint agitating and mixing position. Since the can remains closed except for the relatively small opening 17, the mixing operation is effected without any danger of the paint being splashed from the can.

As the paddles 8 are pivoted on the head 7 and relatively close to each other or folded when the shaft 6 is not rotating, said shaft and the paddles can be easily projected through the small opening 17 upon placement of the mixer on (or removing it from) the can.

In FIGS. 4-7, the mixer, while of generally the same construction as above described, is intended to be supported from a large paint can 19, not necessarily always of the same size and so that the mixing paddles may operate directly in said can 19, or in a small open can 20 positioned within the can 19 as shown in FIG. 4.

To accommodate the mixer to such use, the motor supporting bars 12a are formed on their lower ends with horizontal flanges 21 which are parallel to each other and project across the rim of the can. Separate arcuately short hangers 22, of generally the same cross sectional form as the hanger 14, engage over the rim =bead 2-3 of the can, as well as the interior and exterior faces of the side of the can below the bead, as shown.

The hangers 22 are flat on top and matchingly engage the underside of the flanges 21; the hangers 22 each being rotatably adjustably secured to the related flange 21. This is accomplished by means of a stud 24 fixed on each hanger and projecting upwardly through the related flange 21; the stud above the flange being engaged by a clamping nut 25. By first loosening the nuts 25 the hangers 22 may be rotatably adjusted so that they will both fit about the rim of the can 19 regardless of the diameter thereof; the nuts being then re-tightened.

Also, when the mixer is to be used in an open can, it is not necessary that the mixing paddles be foldable and the slotted head on the elongated extension shaft (as in FIG. 1) is not employed. Instead the corresponding extension shaft 6a is provided with a flattened outer end 26. A single mixing paddle 27, in the form of an elongated wire loop of rectangular form and set on edge, projects through and is secured in said flattened end 26 and extends an equal distance on both sides thereof.

In addition, said flattened shaft end 26 may be provided, above the paddle 27, with a pair of oppositely sloping mixing blades 28 which project from opposite sides of the end 26. In order to secure the blades 28 in place, they are formed at the inner ends with upstanding flanges 29 which abut against the opposite sides of the shaft end 26 and are secured thereto by a transverse clamping bolt 30. The angularity of the mixing blades 28 relative to each other, and hence their mixing action, may be altered to suit different conditions, or said blades may be wholly removed if their use at any time is not desired.

From the foregoing description, it will be readily seen that there has been produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention, as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, the following is claimed as new and useful and upon which Letters Patent is desired:

1. A paint mixer for use in a paint can comprising a rotary depending shaft having paint mixing elements on its lower end, operating means for the shaft connected to the upper end thereof, and means detachably supporting the operating means from one side of the can with the shaft projecting into said can; the supporting means including a pair of rigid transversely spaced depending bars, separate hangers shaped to straddle and engage the rim of the can at circumferentially spaced points thereon, and means securing the hangers to the bars for rotation relative thereto about vertical axes.

2. A structure, as in claim 1, in which the top surfaces of the hangers are fl-at and horizontal, and the last named means comprises flanges formed with and projecting from the lower ends of the bars and overlying and flatly engaging said top surfaces of the hangers, a stud secured in and projecting upwardly from the top of each hanger through the related flange in turnable relation, and a clamping nut on the upper end of such stud.

3. A paint mixer for use in a paint can comprising a rotary depending shaft having paint mixing elements on its lower end, operating means for the shaft connected to the upper end thereof, means detachably supporting the operating means from one side of the can with the shaft projecting into said can, the mixing elements being blades projecting from opposite sides of the shaft and disposed at opposite angles to each other in a transverse plane, and means securing the blades to the shaft for adjustment of the angularity of the blades relative to each other; the lower end portion of the shaft being flattened, and said blade securing means comprising upstanding flanges on the adjacent ends of the blades abutting said flattened end portion of the shaft, and a clamping bolt projecting through the flanges and said shaft portion and on which bolt the flanges are separately turnable.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 367,569 8/1887 Wikidal 259106 1,227,671 5/1917 Robertson 259- 2,193,686 3/1940 Craddock 259133 2,250,142 7/ 1941 Urnstead 259122 X 2,636,720 4/ 1953 Forrest 259-13O 3,068,186 12/1962 Paulus et al. 3,132,849 5/1964 Kritik-son 259l34 3,145,018 8/1964 Goodwiller 259-435 FOREIGN PATENTS 3,207 2/ 1907 Great Britain.

CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner.

Claims

1. A PAINT MIXER FOR USE IN A PAINT CAN COMPRISING A ROTARY DEPENDING SHAFT HAVING PAINT MIXING ELEMENTS ON ITS LOWER END, OPERATING MEANS FOR THE SHAFT CONNECTED TO THE UPPER END THEREOF, AND MEANS DETACHABLY SUPPORTING THE OPERATING MEANS FROM ONE SIDE OF THE CAN WITH THE SHAFT PROJECTING INTO SAID CAN; THE SUPPORTING MEANS INCLUDING A PAIR OF RIGID TRANSVERSELY SPACED DEPENDING BARS, SEPARATE HANGERS SPACED TO STRADDLE AND ENGAGE THE RIMS OF THE CAN AT CIRCUMFERENTIALLY SPACED POINTS THEREON AND MEANS SECURING THE HANGERS TO THE BARS FOR ROTATION RELATIVE THERETO ABOUT VERTICAL AXES.