The conventional manner in which a paint tray is mounted on a ladder is to provide hooks on the underside of the tray so that the paint tray may be hooked over a ladder rung to be pivotally supported by that rung and lie against the rung immediately below, see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,351,970, dated Nov. 14, 1967, H. A. Engh.
While the conventional hooks for supporting a paint tray on a ladder rung have been useful, this method of supporting a paint tray has presented a number of problems in that,
i) a person on a ladder and using the paint tray is positioned more or less immediately beneath the paint tray and cannot avoid being in the path of paint dripping from a roller or brush that has been dipped into the tray, PA1 ii) a roller or brush that has been coated with paint from the paint tray has to be carried over a ladder upright to the side of the ladder before the paint can be applied to, say, a wall, during which time the chances of the paint dripping from the roller or brush are increased, PA1 iii) the tray is prone to dislodgement from the hanging position, and PA1 iv) no provision is made to restrain a lower portion of the tray against lateral movement relative to the ladder. PA1 i) a person on a ladder is not immediately beneath the paint tray PA1 ii) a roller or brush that has been coated with paint does not have to be carried over a ladder upright, PA1 iii) the paint tray assembly will not be dislodged from the ladder by being pushed upwardly, and PA1 iv) provision is made to restrain a lower portion of the tray. PA1 a) an upper, inclined, paint draining portion which is downwardly inclined when the assembly is mounted on a ladder upright, PA1 b) a lower, open-topped paint container portion integral with the draining portion and for having a paint applicator dipped therein, and PA1 c) mounting means for removably mounting the paint tray assembly on a ladder upright in a slidable manner therealong, while restraining the upper and lower portions against lateral movement relative to that upright, the mounting means, in operation, supporting the upper and lower portion in a downwardly inclined position by hooking over a ladder rung. PA1 a) two side bracket assemblies on the underside of the draining portion, the side bracket assemblies being spaced from one another and similar to the central bracket assembly, which is disposed therebetween so that the tray assembly can also be supported on a ladder rung by a side bracket assembly, and PA1 b) two pairs of paint container wall members on the underside of the paint container and aligned with the side bracket assemblies for receiving therewith, in a slidable manner, a ladder upright.
There is a need for a paint tray assembly that may be supported on a ladder in much a manner that,
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds