The invention relates to a painting tool, particularly but not exclusively for use when painting with watercolours.

One of the problems artists have when painting away from the studio is that they have to carry all their materials with them. In the case of watercolours, the artist needs a box of paints and one or two water containers for brush cleaning or to dilute the paint on the brush if a lighter colour wash is required.

Artists therefore normally need to carry with them a fairly large paintbox for their materials but this may not be convenient for certain types of work. For instance, if artists find themselves in a situation where they wish to make a sketch and apply a colourwash to it or alternatively paint a picture and they do not have their paintbox with them, the opportunity is missed.

In the past, this problem has been partially overcome by providing pen brushes which include an integral reservoir filled with paint or ink. These are much more convenient to carry and use as they fit readily into a pocket. However, the artist still has to carry one pen for each colour that may be needed. Whilst this is more convenient than having to carry a comprehensive paintbox, it does nevertheless mean that the artist must decide in advance what coloured pens may be needed or alternatively only carry a limited selection of the more commonly used colours. US-A-2315996 describes a paintbrush having a collapsible bulb shaped reservoir made of rubber which is filled with paint, or in some cases water, and is squeezed to expel the water or paint through the brush head. The bulb is filled by squeezing it in the hand to collapse it and then introducing the mouth of a tube passing through the brush head into the coloured media or other fluid to be used. Pressure is then relaxed on the bulb and the fluid

is drawn into the reservoir. This is a rather primitive form of painting tool which is not particularly well suited for use in view of the bulbous nature of the bulb itself and is cumbersome to fill. More recent developments have made use of piston/cylinder arrangements in place of the rubber bulb but these also have drawbacks.

According to the present invention, we provide a painting tool comprising a brush head mounted to a reservoir containing a colourless liquid, in use, part of the reservoir being defined by elongate bellows, wherein part of the reservoir is squeezable radially inwardly by the user to expel liquid through the brush head; and a tubular body member receiving the bellows and being movable towards the brush head axially to compress the bellows so that colourless liquid can be drawn into the bellows through the brush head upon subsequent expansion of the bellows.

We have devised a new form of painting tool in which the reservoir is partly formed by an elongate bellows. In this tool, different operations are used for filling the reservoir and for expelling fluid.

In normal use, fluid is drawn down the brush head by capilliary action. However, an alternative method is required for large fluid volumes, for example for a wash or when mixing colours. To expel fluid a radial squeezing movement is used which is convenient for the user who can simply apply pressure while painting. This mode of operation though is not suitable for filling the reservoir and instead the reservoir is filled by axially compressing the bellows and then releasing the bellows which will draw fluid into the reservoir. The tubular body member not only assists in supporting the bellows but provides a convenient means for compressing the bellows. Thus, the tubular body member and the brush head can be held in different hands and moved together to compress the bellows with the tubular body member then being released to allow the bellows to expand and draw fluid into the reservoir.

Typically, the bellows will not form the entire reservoir and preferably defines a part of the reservoir which is spaced from the brush head by a non-bellows section. This may be a plain, tubular section. In this case, the non-bellows section may be squeezable radially inwardly to expel liquid through the brush head.

Conveniently, the tubular body member extends over the entire bellows and also part of the non-bellows section when the bellows is not axially pressed. This assists in supporting the bellows and ensures that movement of the body member relative to the brush head is generally axial.

Preferably, the tubular body member comprises first and second coaxial tubular members, wherein the first tubular member extends over the entire bellows.

Conveniently, the first tubular member has one or more windows through which the bellows can be seen. This helps the user to see the form of the bellows. Preferably, the bellows itself is translucent at least in the region of the or each window to enable the liquid to be viewed.

The liquid may be water or any other solvent conventionally used by artists.

It will be appreciated that with this invention the artist no longer needs to carry a separate cleaning solvent or a large number of pen brushes for each colour which may be needed. Furthermore, the strength of the colour applied to the picture or drawing can readily be varied by adding colourless liquid from the reservoir to dilute the colour on the brush head. For a watercolour artist, the present invention provides a substantial improvement over the prior art as he or she only needs to carry a small pocket sized container with a set of paints therein and a single paintbrush of the invention filled with a colourless liquid such as water. Thus, the combination of the novel paintbrush of the invention with a small box of paints provides the artist

with a compact painting system which is convenient to carry and easy to use.

An example of a painting tool according to the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is a plan of the tool with the cap removed; Figure 2 is a plan of the cap; and,

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section through the tool. The painting tool or paintbrush comprises a main body or external barrel having a generally tapered, tubular form. In this example the body is made from injection- moulded HIPS, although other materials could be used and is circular in section with a small sphere detail 2 at one end. The main body is formed as first and second tubular barrels 1,9. A pair of windows 3 are provided on opposite sides of the first barrel 1 to permit the user to see into the body of the barrel.

The second barrel also has a tapered form and a circular section. Generally, it is manufactured from injection moulded HIPS and includes elements 10 to allow access to raised gripping areas 11 in a non-bellows tubular section 6.

A liquid reservoir 4 is defined by a bellows 5 made from blow-moulded polythene or HDPE integrally formed with the non-bellows tubular section 6 and with another non- bellows tubular section 7. The reservoir 4 is inserted into the main body and preferably is secured to the main body.

The tubular section 6 also supports, in an aperture 12, a brush head comprising a supporting ferrule 13 containing brush fibres 1 .

The brush head or nib can be protected when the paintbrush is not in use by means of a cap 15.

The paintbrush is filled with water by removing the cap 15 and then placing the bristles 14 into a water reservoir which preferably has a form similar to that of the cap 15 so that the tubular portion 6 can be held

against downward pressure while preventing the bristles 14 from being crushed. Downward, axial pressure is then exerted on the first tubular barrel 1 which compresses the bellows 5 as the barrel 1 telescopes over the second tubular barrel 9 so as to expel air through the ferrule 13. When the downward pressure is released, water is sucked inside the reservoir 4 by passing between the brush fibres 14. The water is held inside the reservoir by a combination of suction and surface tension. In normal use during painting water flows through the bristles 14 from the reservoir 4 by capilliary action. To expel water from the tool in circumstances requiring a greater than normal flow, such as during mixing or for a wash, the gripping areas 11 are squeezed radially inwardly which compresses the reservoir and expels water in a controlled manner.