STATE OF THE ART It is known in the prior art to provide bucket holders for paintbrushes. Such holders are generally in the form of tabs or tinplates projecting from the handle or the head of the paintbrush. The projecting tabs are often rounded in order to follow the shape of a bucket or a paint jar.

When you want lay down a paintbrush equipped with such a bucket holder, however, you are not helped by it, as the holder will not provide adequate support and the paintbrush will tip or roll over, causing the bristle of the paintbrush to con- tact the surface. This is of course undesirable.

The present invention remedies the above problem by providing a support having two points of support that, together with a further point of support at the handle, provides sufficient support to allow the paintbrush to be laid down onto a surface without tipping or rolling over.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Thus, the present invention provides a support for a paintbrush in the form of projections from the paintbrush body. According to the invention, the projection provides at least two points of support, allowing the paintbrush to rest against those points of support, together with a point of support provided by the paintbrush some- where along the handle. Preferably, the support is located at the head of the paint- brush, at the shoulder of the head close to the handle.

Still more preferably, the support furthermore comprises an arched flange, directed along the handle, which may function as a bucket holder.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be described in detail below, with reference to the accom- panying drawings, of which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view, diagonally from the front, of the support according to the invention, with the handle partly cut away, Fig. 2 is a detail front view of the support, and

Fig. 3 is a detail side view, partly in cross-section, of the paintbrush hanging on the edge of a paint jar.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The drawings show a paintbrush 1 equipped with a support 2 according to the present invention. The paintbrush shown is of the circular type, but it is to be under- stood that the support according to the invention could as well be used with a flat type of paintbrush.

The paintbrush conventionally comprises a handle 3 and a head 4 with bristle 5. At the shoulder 6, where the head 4 passes into the handle 3, a"projection"is provided, which defines the support 2 according to the present invention. The loca- tion of the support is selected such that the paintbrush centre of gravity lies behind the support, i. e. somewhere along the handle, even when the bristle 5 of the paint- brush is full of paint. The support 2 at the same time is at a distance from the bristle 5 so as not to be in the way during painting. In Fig. 1, the support is furthermore somewhat exaggerated in size, in order to illustrate the invention more clearly.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention consists of two protruding legs 7, a flange 8 directed along the paintbrush, and two nibs 9, approximately located as extensions of the legs 7. The nibs 9 may be straight as shown, or be of any other suitable shape, as long as two points of support are obtained. One of the nibs is hidden in Fig. 1. The legs 7 are of suitable length, so as to place the flange 8 at a convenient distance away from the head 4 of the paintbrush. When the paintbrush is hung on the edge of a paint jar, as is explained below with reference to Fig. 3, the edge of the paint jar is located between the flange and the head of the paintbrush.

The nibs 9 rest against a base when the paintbrush has been put away and thus defines two of the points of support. The third point of support is generally defined by the handle 3 where it rests against the base.

If for any reason it is required to remove the paintbrush support 2, it is simple to cut off the legs close to the head 4 of the paintbrush.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the flange 8 is replaced by two narrow, angled sections of the legs 7, so as to make each leg look like an L-shaped hook (not shown). This shape is, however, less stable. It is also conceivable to com- pletely exclude the bucket holder from the support.

As an alternative to the legs 7, a complete tab (not shown) may be used, i. e. there will be no empty space between the legs 7. One disadvantage of that, com- pared to the most preferred embodiment, is that the support is more difficult to remove and that more material is required to form the support.

As can be seen, especially from Figs. 1 and 2, the flange 8 is arched. This is an advantage when the paintbrush is to be hung over the edge of a paint jar. This is

specifically shown in Fig. 3, where the edge 10 of the paint jar is shown in cross section with a paintbrush suspended therefrom. The handle has been cut away for clarity. The paintbrush rests with its weight supported on the top of the edge 10 and the brush normally hangs in such a fashion that the head 4 and bristle 5 of the paint- brush rest against the inside of the jar, whereas the flange 8 is supported by the exte- rior of the jar. Thus, the paintbrush is hanging in a stable manner on the jar.

When the paintbrush is of the flat type, the support is preferably arranged at the narrow side of the paintbrush, to make it easy to hang the paintbrush on the edge of the jar. The paintbrush then has to be placed"on end"when putting it away, but there is normally no problem with the paintbrush tipping over.

The present invention provides an advantageous combination of laying-down support and bucket holder in the form of a support as defined by the accompanying claims. Many embodiments of the support will be evident for the person skilled in the art. The protective scope of the invention is solely limited by what is stated below.