Superior paint and fluid stirring and blending device to push up heavier paint or fluid from the container's bottom to the top

Abstract

The purpose of stirring a can of paint or fluids before their use is to lift to the surface heavier paint matter that fall out of the solution and tend to settle to the bottom of the container. Manual paint mixing, blending and stirring paddles are flat and not mechanically designed to lift or push to the top of the container all the heavier paint/fluid matter settled to the bottom of the container. This invention is a device designed to lift or push up the heavier paint/fluid matter from the bottom to the surface while using a stirring or to-and-fro reciprocal motion. This manual device could be motorized to turn it at appropriate speeds. One embodiment can be attached or clipped to the foot of the common flat paint-stirring or blending paddle to transform it into a more effective paint mixing and blending tool.

Claims

1. A superior paint/fluid stirring device, comprising; a. an elongated flat portion handle with an upper end and a lower end; b. wherein the upper end is shaped to serve as a firm one-handed grip; c. two sets of a plurality of angled channels positioned on opposite sides of the elongated flat handle, wherein a first set of angled channels on one side of the handle are inclined relative to a horizontal axis, and wherein a second set of angled channels positioned on the opposing side of the elongated flat handle from the first set of angled channels are declined relative to the horizontal axis wherein each channel is formed by horizontal members and vertical members so they are built into the elongated flat handle.

2. The superior paint stirring device in claim 1 where the inclined channels to push and guide the settled heavier matter upwards may take a linear or curved shape.

3. The devices in claim 1 may be motorized or automated to be used at appropriate speeds for reciprocal or circular motion in larger containers of paints or fluids.

4. A paint stirring device that can be attached or clipped to foot of common paint or fluid stirring paddle or stick, comprising: a. a clip which firmly grips the stirring paddle or stick by a first flange and a second flange, the clip comprising a plurality of serrations running from the top to the bottom of each flange, b. a first set of blades attached to the first flange having an angle relative to a horizontal axis configured to move paint upwards and a second set of blades in an opposing angle to the horizontal axis from the first set of blades configured to move paint in a downwards direction.

5. The device of claim 4 wherein the device is made of metal, wood or polymers/plastics of appropriate thickness and properties to stir heavy paint, and to grip the paddle or stick without falling off during a vigorous stirring or blending action.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1: shows dominant devices used as paint stirrers today.

(2) FIG. 2: shows a twisted metal strip device serving as a paint/liquid stirring paddle.

(3) FIG. 5 shows the paddle with built in three channels that push or lift paint from the bottom of container when the paddle is used to stir paint/fluids with a back and forth reciprocal motion.

(4) FIG. 6 shows the flow of paint/fluid either upward or downward when the paddle is pushed reciprocally back and forth in a paint/fluid container.

(5) FIG. 7 shows the device in FIG. 5 with two sets of channels with opposite effect when moved back and forth reciprocally; one set of channels pushing the bottom-settled matter upwards, while another set of channels pushing the lighter fluid from the top to the bottom for uniform mixing of bottom-settled heavier matter with the rest of the paint/stain/fluid.

(6) FIG. 8 shows an isometric view of a turbine foot, which is a tight-fitting attachment to the foot of the common paint paddle made of wood or similar material to enable the common paddle to push the paint upwards during the typical circular motion of the paddle, while mixing the paint.

(7) FIG. 9 shows the side view of the turbine foot.

(8) FIG. 10 shows the front view of the turbine foot.

(9) FIG. 11 shows the top view of the turbine foot.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS AND INVENTIONS

(10) Paints in general, and pigmented paints including metallic paints, acrylic lacquers and stains need proper mechanical stirring to replace and redistribute colloidal particles or pigments that tend to settle to the bottom of the container. The greatest challenge to paddles used for the purpose is the need to lift up settled matter from the bottom of the container to the top to enable blending the bottom-settled matter uniformly in the container.

(11) The present invention is a stirring device designed for a novel and elegant way of moving heavier paint or liquid from the bottom of the paint/fluid container to the top, and to bring down the lighter fluid from the top of the container to the bottom to mix the paint or fluid uniformly.

(12) This invention uses paint stirring paddles that are purposely shaped to push upwards bottom-settled matter in containers using a stirring or a back and forth reciprocal motion.

(13) While several embodiments are possible, three embodiments are described below.

Embodiment 1

(14) Because of the shortcomings of flat paddles in use today, this invention uses a paddle device shaped in the form of a twisted-screw or screw-conveyor so that, as the device is used to stir the paint in the container manually or otherwise, heavier paint matter at the bottom of the can is move up the screw-like paddle to enable mixing uniformly and quickly of the paint in the entire container.

(15) In FIG. 1, 11 is the paint container and 11 and 12 are commonly used paint stirrers that push paint sideways but have no capability to lift or move the paint upwards. FIG. 2 shows one embodiment of the invention, where a twisted metal strip or molded polymer 22 is used as the paddle to stir paint/fluid in a can/container 21. Another version of the invention shows the stirring device 23 with holes 24. Arrows 25 show the movement of paint from the bottom of the can to the top can as the device is used to stir the paint in the container. The paddle has a grip 26.

Embodiment 2

(16) In FIG. 5, the vertical paddle 51 of width B, has three built-in channels of width A formed by four horizontal members 52, and 53, a vertical member. The channels are inclined upwards at an angle Phi so that, when the paddle is moved left to right, the cross-section X of the paddle shows heavier, bottom-settled matter of the paint/fluid is pushed upwards as depicted by the arrows.

(17) In FIG. 6, the arrow above paddle 61 shows that the paddle is moved right to left in FIG. 6A causing the fluid to be pushed downwards through three channels 62 inclined downwards. The arrow above paddle 61 in FIG. 6B shows paddle 61 is being moved left to right causing the bottom-settled paint/fluid to be pushed upwards through the three channels 63 in the figure. Thus, the to-and-fro reciprocal motion of paddle 61 moves the paint upward in one direction, moves the paint downwards on the return stroke of the paddle.

(18) FIG. 7 shows the integration of two paddles into one with each side of the paddle pushing the paint or fluid in opposite direction to each other; channels C1 push paint or fluid upwards while channels C2 push paint/fluid downwards during a single stroke of the paddle for quicker and better mixing of the paint/fluid being stirred with paddle 71. Paddle 71 may be moved reciprocally to-and-fro inside the container, and could be used as a conventional paddle stirrer too.

Embodiment 3

(19) In FIG. 8, 81 is the typical flat wooden paddle used for mixing paint today. Item 82 is the turbine foot (TF) invention that can be tightly attached to the foot of the paddle by pushing the paddle hard into the slot 85 in the TF. Four blades 83 and 84 are shown on the opposite sides of the TF are inclined at 90 degrees to each other along their length (other inclinations are not shown in this embodiment). During the clockwise rotary motion of the paddle, blades 83 and 84 will move the paint upwards for the configuration shown in FIG. 8.

(20) In FIG. 9, item 90 is the TF, where 91 and 92 are four blades. Dimension a of the TF could be varied; a could be made equal to the width of the paddle, as one option. The dimension b is the thickness of the blades and the entire structure including the flanges making up the slot for holding the paddle in FIG. 8. All the blades are inclined at 45 degrees for the given configuration.

(21) In the front view shown in FIG. 10, 100 are the two flanges of TF where 101 and 102 are the inclined blades attached to the flanges 100. The paddle is pushed into the slot 103 for a tight fit while stirring the paint or any fluid. The dimension b is the thickness of the flanges and the entire structure. The width of the slot between the two flanges on the open end is c, which is less than the thickness of the paddle to enable the paddle to be gripped tightly between the two flanges.

(22) Top view in FIG. 11 has three parts, 11A, and 11B. In FIG. 11A, 111 and 112 are the tilted blades, 113 is the slot between the flanges that takes the paddle, and e is the width of the slot at the fixed end of the flanges, where the slot is at least equal to the thickness of the paddle or slightly greater. 114 shows the narrow end of the slot before the paddle is inserted, allowing the flanges to exert pressure on the paddle once it is forced into the slot. FIG. 11B shows the inside of the flanges that are serrated from top to the bottom to give a more positive grip on the paddle, while the paint or fluid is stirred. Serrated flanges is an option to enhance the grip on the traditional paddle; flanges may be designed to provide strong enough grip on the paddle without the need for serrations inside the flanges.

(23) It is noted that these are only three of the several other possible embodiments of this invention to lift the heavier settled substance from a container's bottom, while stirring pains or fluids for superior mixing.