There presently exists a number of prior art patents that generally relate to paint containers and associated paint rollers. By way of example, refer to U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,111 to Renfrew. This patent describes a paint roller tray that is detachably mounted on a paint container. One of the drawbacks associated with this particular arrangement is that this requires, not only the container and tray, but also a separate lid for sealing the container.
Refer also to U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,235 to Stern et al. that describes a paint container lid with a self-supporting paint roller tray that pivots from the lid structure. In this patent as well as the '111 patent, it is noted that the constructions that are used are relatively complex and do not provide an effective and simple construction for providing the sealing of the lid with the container as well as the forming of an effective paint roller tray.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved paint container and associated roller tray. More particularly, this is accomplished in accordance with the present invention by providing a reversible lid having an engaging side for sealing with the container and an opposed resting surface side for engagement with an upper peripheral closure edge of the container.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved paint container and associated tray construction that is relatively simple in construction and that has opposed positions including a “storage” position in which one side of the tray construction is sealed with the top of the container and an opposed “use” position in which the tray is reversed in position and can rest upon the top surface of the container.