Joint compound container

Abstract

A joint compound container includes a plurality of metal plates connected with each other to form a trench-shaped body having an opening facing upwardly. The trench-shaped body has an outer surface and an inner surface. Melted layer are formed on edges of connecting portions of each of the metal plates. A thickness of each of the melted layers is reduced from the outer surface toward the inner surface, and the melted layers are not exceeding out of the inner surface. The metal plates are connected with each other through the melted layers. Hence, the joint compound received in the container can be scraped out from the container smoothly along the inner surface of the container. Hence, the trench-shaped body of the joint compound container can have great sealing property, and the efficiency in performing the tasks can be greatly improved.

Claims

1. A joint compound container comprising a plurality of metal plates (12, 13, 13) defining at least two side plates (13, 13) and a bottom plate (12) where each of said two side plates (13, 13) are respectively joined to opposing ends of said bottom plate (12) to form a trench-shaped body (11) having an upward-facing opening, the trench-shaped body having an outer surface (15) and an inner surface (16), each of the metal plates (12, 13, 13) having connecting portions thereof formed with melted regions (17) of each of said side plates (13, 13) and said bottom plate (12), the melted regions (17) forming a triangular contour in cross section having an apex at an intersection of an inner surface of each of said side plates (13, 13) and an inner surface of said bottom plate (12) at respective opposing ends of said bottom plate (12), said melted regions (17) forming a linearly directed base being substantially coplanar with respect to an outer surface of each of said side plates (13, 13) and said bottom plate (12), a thickness of each of the melted regions (17) being reduced from the outer surface of said side plates (13, 13) and outer surface of said bottom plate (12) to the inner surface of said side plates (13, 13) and inner surface of said bottom plate (12) and being flush and terminating at said apex of said triangular contour cross section of said melted regions (17) at said intersection of an inner surface of each of said side plates (13, 13) and an inner surface of said bottom plate (12) at respective opposing ends of said bottom plate (12), each of said side plates (13, 13) and said bottom plate (12) forming a substantially continuous and planar connection of said melted regions (17) with respect to said bottom plate (12) and each of said side plates (13, 13).

2. The joint compound container according to claim 1, wherein the metal plates include said bottom plate with a U-shaped cross section and said two side plates, two ends of the bottom plate respectively have open ends, and the two side plates respectively shield the open ends.

3. The joint compound container according to claim 2, wherein the bottom plate has a flat bottom portion and two end walls extending upwardly, two curved portions are connected between the bottom portion and the two end walls, respectively.

4. The joint compound container according to claim 1, wherein the melted regions extend continuously along edges of the connecting portions of the metal plates.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 illustrates an exploded view of the trench-shaped body of the joint compound container according to an embodiment of the present invention;

(2) FIG. 2 illustrates an assembled view of the trench-shaped body of the joint compound container;

(3) FIG. 3 illustrates a cross sectional view along line A-A shown in FIG. 2;

(4) FIG. 4 illustrates a sectional view of one embodiment of the trench-shaped body; and

(5) FIG. 5 illustrates a cross sectional view of a conventional joint compound container.

DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(6) Please refer to FIGS. 1 to 3, illustrating a joint compound container according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the joint compound container comprises several metal plates connected with each other to form a trench-shaped body 11 having an opening facing upwardly, and the metal plates are made of identical materials (e.g., stainless steel). In this embodiment, the metal plates comprise a bottom plate 12 with a U-shaped cross section and two side plates 13. The bottom plate 12 is formed by bending an elongate plate. Two ends of the bottom plate 12 respectively have open ends 121. The bottom plate 12 has a bottom portion 122 being plate and two ends walls 123 extending upwardly and inclinedly. Two curved portions 124 are connected between the bottom portion 122 and the two end walls 123, respectively. The two side plates 13 respectively assembled on the edges of the two end walls 123 to shield the open ends 121, and then a high temperature melting method without using welding rods is applied to melt the bottom plate 11 and the two side plates 13 to form the trench-shaped body 11 having the opening 14 facing upwardly.

(7) The trench-shaped body 11 has an outer surface 15 and an inner surface 16, and edges of the connected portions of the bottom plate 12 and the side plates 13 are heated to the melting point, so that the edges of the connected portions of the bottom plate 12 and the side plates 13 are melted to form melted layers 17, respectively. A thickness of each of the melted layers 17 is reduced from the outer surface 15 toward the inner surface 16 and the melted layers 17 are not exceeding out of the inner surface 16. The bottom plate 12 and the side plates 13 are firmly connected with each other through the melted layers 17. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the thickness of each of the melted layers 17 is reduced from the outer surface 15 toward the inner surface 16, and the melted layers 17 are flush with the inner surface 16. Since the melted layer 17 of the bottom plate 12 and the melted layers 17 of the side plates 13 are not exceeding out of the inner surface 16, the inner surface 16 of the trench-shaped body 11 is glossy and smooth.

(8) Further, as shown in FIG. 4, in one embodiment, the thickness of each of the melted layers 17 is reduced from the outer surface 15 toward the inner surface 16 and the melted layers 17 are aligned to be not flush with the inner surface 16. Hence, the trench-shaped body 11 with a glossy and smooth inner surface 16 can be also achieved.

(9) According to the joint compound container, the bottom plate 12 and the side plates 13 are connected with each other through the melted layers 17 formed on the edges of the connected portions of the bottom plate 12 and the side plates 13, and the bottom plate 12 and the two side plates 13 are made of metal plates with same materials. Therefore, when the bottom plate 12 and the side plates 13 are connected with each other through the melted layers 17, the strength and the sealing of the product can be ensured. Hence, the joint compound container can provide a proper sealing performance. Furthermore, since the thickness of each of the melted layers 17 is reduced from the outer surface 15 toward the inner surface 16 and the melted layers 17 are not exceeding out of the inner surface 16, protruding welding beams and slags are not formed on the inner surface 16 of the trench-shaped body 11, the inner surface 16 of the trench-shaped body 11 is glossy and smooth, and the appearance of the joint compound container is beautiful.

(10) Moreover, since the thickness of each of the melted layers 17 is reduced from the outer surface 15 toward the inner surface 16 and the melted layers 17 are not exceeding out of the inner surface 16, the inner surface 16 of the joint compound container is glossy and smooth. Hence, the user can use a scraper to scrap out the joint compound in the container along the inner wall 16 of the container efficiently, and the amount of the joint compound can be controlled in a proper manner. Therefore, the time for operation can be reduced to improve the efficiency in performing the tasks. Furthermore, since the inner surface 16 of the trench-shaped body 11 is glossy and smooth, the cleaning of the trench-shaped body 11 can be performed easily without leaving the joint compound in the container.