Background Art As well known to those skilled in the art, a palette for acrylic painting is used in painting, and has a paint-holding cell unit and a color-mixing unit. The paint-holding cell unit separately holds paints according to their colors and the color-mixing unit is used for mixing paints of different colors held in the paint- holding cell unit as necessary so as to make desired colors.

However, the paints held in the paint-holding cell unit become dry after a predetermined period of time, because of certain characteristics of the acrylic paints. So, paints remaining in the paint-holding cell unit and the color-mixing unit must be rapidly washed off after painting is completed, thus causing a user inconvenience. When the paints harden, the palette with paints must be inconveniently soaked in water for a lengthy period of time and then be washed.

Further, although a large quantity of paints remain in the palette, the paints cannot be reused and are washed away.

Disclosure of the Invention Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an airtight palette for acrylic painting, which airtightly holds acrylic paints remaining in the palette so as to prevent moisture contained in the paints from evaporating, thus allowing the paints in the palette to be usable for a prolonged period of time, and which is easily washed after painting is completed.

In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides an airtight palette for acrylic painting, comprising a paint-holding cell unit separately holding paints according to their colors, a color-mixing unit for mixing the paints held in the paint-holding cell unit, a palette body in which the paint-holding cell unit and the color-mixing unit are seated, and airtight sealing means provided at the junction of the palette body and a sealing lid for preventing hardening of the paints held in the palette after painting is completed, wherein the airtight sealing means consists of hinged clamps provided along a rim of the sealing lid, and clamp catches provided along a top edge of the palette body at positions corresponding to the clamps such that a hook mounted on a hook support of each of the hinged clamps is locked to each of the clamp catches, thus compressing an elastic material, such as rubber, seated along a rubber seating groove provided at the junction of the palette body and the sealing lid, therefore airtightly sealing the airtight palette.

Brief Description of the Drawings The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing an airtight palette for acrylic painting according to the present invention, with a sealing lid of the palette being closed; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the airtight palette for acrylic painting according to the present invention, with the sealing lid of the palette being open; Figs. 3a to 3c are views showing components provided in the palette according to the present invention, in which Fig. 3a is a perspective view of a paint-holding cell unit, Fig. 3b is a perspective view of a color-mixing unit, and Fig. 3c shows the state of stacking three color mixing units; and Figs. 4a to 4c are views showing the sealing lid and a palette body, in which Fig. 4a shows the state of the palette before the palette body is covered with the sealing lid, Fig. 4b shows the state of the palette after the palette body is covered with the sealing lid, and Fig. 4c shows an airtight sealing means.

Best Mode for Carrving Out the Invention Reference should now be made to the drawings, in which the same reference numerals are used throughout the different drawings to designate the same or similar components.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing an airtight palette for acrylic painting according to the present invention, with a sealing lid of the palette being closed.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the airtight palette for acrylic painting according to the present invention, with the sealing lid of the palette being open. Figs. 3a to 3c are views showing components provided in the palette according to the present invention. In this case, Fig. 3a is a perspective view of a paint-holding cell unit, Fig. 3b is a perspective view of a color-mixing unit, and Fig. 3c shows the state of stacking three color mixing units. Figs. 4a to 4c are views showing the sealing lid and a palette body. Fig. 4a shows the state of the palette before the palette body is covered with the sealing lid, Fig. 4b shows the state of the palette after the

palette body is covered with the sealing lid, and Fig. 4c shows an airtight sealing means.

As shown in the drawings, the airtight palette for acrylic painting according to the present invention includes a paint-holding cell unit 4, a color- mixing unit 5, a palette body 2, and an airtight sealing means. The paint-holding cell unit 4 separately holds paints according to their colors. The color-mixing unit 5 is used for mixing the paints of the paint-holding cell unit 4. The paint- holding cell unit 4 and the color-mixing unit 5 are seated in the palette body 2.

The airtight sealing means is provided at the junction of the palette body 2 and a sealing lid 1 so as to prevent hardening of the paints held in the palette after painting is completed.

As shown in Fig. 4, the airtight sealing means consists of hinged clamps 8 and clamp catches 11. The hinged clamps 8 are provided along a rim 3 of the sealing lid 1, and the clamp catches 11 are provided along the top edge of the palette body 2 at positions corresponding to the clamps 8 such that a hook 10 mounted on a hook support 9 of each hinged clamp 8 is locked to each clamp catch 11, thus compressing rubber 6 which is seated along a rubber seating groove provided at the junction of the palette body 2 and the sealing lid 1, therefore preventing air from entering the palette.

That is, after painting is completed, the sealing lid 1 is closed. At this time, a user presses down the sealing lid 1 and downwardly pushes each hook support 9 such that the hook 10 of the hook support 9 is locked to an associated clamp catch 11 of the palette body 2. Then, an elastic material, such as the rubber 6, seated along the rubber seating groove 7 provided at the junction of the sealing lid 1 and the palette body 2 is compressed, thus airtightly holding the paints held in the paint-holding cell unit 4 and the color-mixing unit 5.

When a coating is formed on the color-mixing unit 5 and the paint-holding cell unit 4, it is easier to clean the color-mixing unit 5 and the paint holding cell

unit 4.

The sealing lid 1, palette body 2, paint-holding cell unit 4 and the color- mixing unit 5 may be made of aluminums or plastics. Preferably, the sealing lid 1, palette body 2, paint-holding cell unit 4 and the color-mixing unit 5 are made of antibacterial plastics so as to keep the palette more sanitary.

As shown in Fig. 3c, since several color-mixing units 5 are seated in the palette body 2 in such a way as to be stacked, there is no necessity for washing the palette in the middle of painting even when several paints must be frequently mixed with each other.

The paint-holding cell unit 4 and color-mixing unit 5 may be preferably made of polyethylene or polypropylene so as to prevent the paints from being firmly adhered to the paint-holding cell unit 4 and the color-mixing unit 5.

Industrial Applicabilitv As described above, the present invention provides an airtight palette for acrylic painting, which maintains paints in a soft state in the palette for about one month, so a user doesn't have to frequently wash the palette and consumption of paints is reduced. In addition, since a paint-holding cell unit and a color-mixing unit are removable from a palette body, it is easy to wash the paint-holding cell unit and the color-mixing unit. Several color-mixing units are seated in the palette body in such a way as to be stacked, thus being used for a lengthy period of time without having to wash the palette during painting. Further, the paint- holding cell unit and the color-mixing unit may be made of polyethylene or polypropylene, thus preventing the paints from being firmly adhered to the paint- holding cell unit and the color-mixing unit.