Cleaning-Pail Attachment

Referring now to the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary sectional view of a cleaning pail with a cleaning-pail attachment mounted on its upper rim, and

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a cleaning-pail attachment mounted on the upper rim of a cleaning pail.

The cleaning-pail attachment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 preferably is a one-piece molded polyvinyl chloride part which can be securely mounted on the upper rim of cleaning pails of all conventional sizes simply by being set thereon. To this end, the cleaning-pail attachment preferably comprises three mounting claws 4, 5 and 6 which are provided on their underside with a slot that extends in the peripheral direction of the cleaning pail and fits over its rim. A flat mounting surface preferably is superposed on the rim and then preferably is level with it when the attachment is set onto the cleaning pail with the mounting claws 4, 5 and 6 extending from the hollow strainer 3 substantially normal thereto.

In the radial direction, the rim of the cleaning pail preferably is clasped externally by a spring tongue 2 and internally by a support strap 1. Both preferably are resilient in the manner of a spring in the radial direction and preferably are provided with opposed projections which constrict the slot in a wedgelike manner at a narrowed point. The cleaning-pail attachment thus can readily be pushed onto the upper rim of the cleaning pail, where it is automatically positioned and the slots in the three mounting claws are elastically widened. The projections disposed on the spring tongues 2 finally snap in under the terminal edge of the bead which externally bounds the cleaning pail. They preferably are formed by inclined planes provided with grooving which extends in the peripheral direction. The reciprocal engagement between cleaning-pail attachment and cleaning pail thus is extremely stable. It will readily withstand the application of fairly large forces. Removal of the cleaning-pail attachment from the cleaning pail merely requires that the spring tongues 2 of the opposed mounting claws 5 and 6 be released simultaneously with both hands and that the attachment then be tilted backward over the mounting claw 4 and the outer edge of the rim of the cleaning pail. For this purpose, the spring tongues 2 are provided with gripping strips 7. These can readily be actuated with a finger much like a key.

While there has been described what is at present considered to be the preferred embodiment of this invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention, and it is, therefore, aimed to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.