1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to artists' paint boxes and more particularly to artists' paint boxes having removably replaceable palettes.
2. Background Art
There is a need for an artist's paint box system that can be used for watercolor, oil, acrylics, and pastels, that is portable, that may be carried in one hand or removably fastened to a user's wrist or waist, has removably replaceable paint wells, has a removably replaceable palette that is adapted to hold the removably replaceable paint wells, has storage space for a variety of canvases and other materials to paint on and storage space for paintbrushes, has a removably replaceable viewfinder, has a hinged easel for quickly and conveniently mounting and removing canvases and materials to be painted on, and may be removably fastened to a variety of tripods and stands.
The artist's paint box system should allow for mixing of a variety of different paints and types of paints quickly, efficiently, and easily, with a minimum of waste. The artist's paint box system should allow for mounting and removal of canvases and other materials to be painted on quickly and easily, and should be capable of display, access, and retrieval of paintbrushes and tools in a quick, convenient, and efficient manner. Paints, paintbrushes, and tools should be capable of being displayed and distinguished one from the other quickly and easily, and being accessed, used, removed, and stored quickly, and easily. The artist's paint box should be durable, light weight, easy to carry, inexpensive, safe to use, attractive, sturdy, and of simple construction.
Different artist's paint boxes and paint systems have heretofore been known. However, none of the artist's paint boxes or paint systems adequately satisfies these aforementioned needs.                U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,009 (Hiner) discloses a transportable easel contained within a box that holds a workpiece support and tray for paints and brushes. A detachable wheeled tripod support folds up against the box for storage, and may be used to roll the box and collapsed easel to a desired location.        U.S. Pat. No. 6,772,987 (Jones, II) discloses a portable easel assembly that includes a paint/sketch box, having a base and lid connected by a hinge assembly. The base defines a cavity for storing art supplies, and the lid is configured to support a painting surface. The base and lid are inter-connected with a slide bar assembly. Use of the slide bar assembly and hinge assembly enable the lid to be secured in a number of positions. Preferably, first, second and third legs of adjustable length are pivotally attached to the base and moveable between folded positions and extended, supportive positions        U.S. Pat. No. 4,093,326 (Ford) discloses an artist's kit, comprising a box and a pivotally mounted cover. The box can be secured to a mounting surface, by use of mounting members to provide a stable support for the kit when in use. The cover is capable of being secured in a plurality of open positions, and a head clamp and bottom support releasably mount the canvas to the cover during use. The head clamp and bottom support may be reversely mounted for transporting the canvas.        U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,630 (Fuhri) discloses a portable easel device, which serves alternatively as an easel and as a drawing board, and which provides a carrying case for art supplies and the components of the easel and support legs. The easel can be set up in the lower section of the case, and is supported by a rigid triangular framework formed by the upper and lower sections of the case and a folding easel arm. The drawing board is located on the upper section. A reversible hinge arrangement permits the hinge connection between the upper and lower sections to be reversed for drawing. Compartments within the upper and lower sections make the art supplies accessible for painting and drawing supplies accessible for drawing. The legs can be broken down for storage in the case, and have a male-female joint for increased strength and stability.        U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,856 (Winstone) discloses a portable artist's supply box and easel, which includes a permanent easel that also serves as a handle, by which the device is carried and transported. A second foldable and removable easel is also provided as a greater supporting easel surface. The second, removable easel is stored, when not used in a special compartment of the device. The device includes other compartments and drawers for storage of supplies, material, and tools. In a second embodiment, the device is designed for support on a bed, for use by bed-ridden and infirm persons in hospitals or homes, or for children.        U.S. Pat. No. 4,809,892 (Chinski, et al.) discloses an artist's kit that includes an easel, a bench, and a storage compartment unit. The easel includes three legs, which may be disassembled into leg segments. The seat includes detachable legs and a storage compartment. The easel leg segments and the detachable bench legs may be stored in the storage compartment of the seat. The storage compartment unit includes a plurality of pockets, for storing various artist's painting and drawing supplies. The storage compartment also includes a cover and a plurality of straps, for securing the storage compartment and cover to the seat bushings, when the seat is disassembled. The storage compartment unit further includes a plurality of straps, whereby the seat, easel, and storage compartment unit may be carried as a unitary back pack. A canvas carrying apparatus is provided for transporting a framed canvas on the back pack.        U.S. Pat. No. 3,954,314 (Crawford) discloses a paint box and easel combination, in which an easel base having a compartment for paint tubes and also brushes has a central rib formed with notches. A detachable lid for the base functions as a palette. Hinged to the front edge of the base is an upright member having a bail, which fits into any of the rib notches through the base center to adjust the angle of the easel upright relative to a tray. A transverse first channel is fixed to the hinged upright member. An easel extension slides in the upright socket, and is fixed in extension by the painting. Slidable on the bar is a second channel, which is adjusted in position by a thumb screw. A canvas or other painting surface is supported at its bottom and top edges by the first and second channels. For transportation and storage, the palette lid is placed on the tray, holding the contents in their compartments. The top easel cross bar is inverted and moved down to engage the edge of the palette and base, locking the palette and box closed, thus holding both paints and brushes in the base. The total configuration offers the artist a single compact package for all his or her painting needs.        U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,651 (Maier) discloses a palette and easel assembly, in which an easel is pivotally attached to a palette about an axis by at least one hinge. According to a first embodiment, an extensible member is detachably attached to the palette, and includes a first retracted position and a second extended position, wherein the extensible member substantially extends to the rear of the palette in the second position. A brace having a slot is detachably attached at one end thereof to an end of the extensible member disposed furthest to the rear of the palette, and is detachably attached at a remaining end thereof to the easel. A pair of thumbscrews pass through the slot at opposite ends thereof, and are used to tighten the brace to the extensible member and to the easel, thereby securing the easel in a desired position with respect to the palette. According to a second embodiment, a pivot member is pivotally attached to the palette, and includes a first position, wherein the pivot member is disposed under the palette, and a second position, wherein the pivot member substantially extends to the rear of the palette. A bracket having a U-shaped slot on one end thereof secures the pivot member in position in the second position, and a modified brace is detachably attached to the pivot member and to the easel.        U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,144 (Maier) discloses an artist sketch box that includes a bottom with upstanding walls attached to the bottom generally about the perimeter forming a base compartment, diagonal members affixed within the base compartment further defining an area therein, a lid assembly of approximately the same peripheral configuration as the base compartment hinged to one of the upstanding walls, and as having lid walls attached to the lid assembly adapted for receiving one or more artist panels and a panel board member hinged to the lid assembly to provide access for inserting or removing the artist panels from the lid assembly. The lid assembly pivots about its hinges, so that the lid walls and panel board member align with the upstanding walls to form a box. A lightweight easel and palette assembly is provided that fits within the box, and is removable separate and apart from the box for use. The easel and palette assembly includes a palette base assembly that is hinged to an easel assembly, which is adapted for receiving an artist panel board. The palette base assembly and easel assembly pivot with respect to each other, and are secured in position by a slotted brace and thumbscrew. The easel and palette assembly are either hand held by the artist, during use, or are affixed to a camera type of tripod.        U.S. Pat. No. 6,206,183 (Helsel) discloses a painter's box that includes provisions for painter's supplies, and which is supportable on an easel, the box including both a base and lid, the base including opposed top and bottom portions interconnected by opposed side portions, the bottom portion being provided with a groove for interconnection with an easel, the lid including a female connection area for interlocking with a male connector mounted on the easel.        U.S. Pat. No. 6,308,925 (Wilcox) discloses an adjustable paint box and easel, which folds into a portable box shape for carrying. A tripod head assembly allows outer legs to rotate out, middle leg to rotate down, paint holder assembly to rotate up, and the paint box to open, forming a painter's easel.        U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,996 (Kalish) discloses a portable easel system that includes a lightweight structure for oil and acrylic painting, which converts to a self-contained backpack, capable of transporting a canvas, paint supplies, and the like. The structure is composed of three legs joined at the top, braced by a detachable pack frame suspended between the legs near the middle, with each adjacent pair of legs crossbraced by flexible non-resilient cords between the bottom of each leg and the approximate junction between each adjacent leg and the pack frame. The system includes a pallet, solvent jar, and brush racks, all suspended from the pack frame exterior. Paint supplies are held and accessible from the painting position in front. The tripod and pack can be used separately, as easel and paint box.        U.S. Pat. No. 3,669,227 (Alford) discloses an artist's carrying case and easel. The artist's carrying case is characterized by a partitioned rectangular box, having a top compartment closed by a lid, which may be angularly elevated to form an easel and also provide access to the top compartment. A second partition forms a lower compartment, which is accessible through a slot, closed by a slidably removable bar, which is then secured to the face of the easel. Foldable legs with nesting angle braces are disposed adjacent the second partition, when the case is being transported.        U.S. Pat. No. 6,745,988 (Gelfand) discloses a workstation attachment for a french easel that has hinged tray halves, which, when open, have slides which engage the sides of the easel drawer from the exterior, and, thus, hold the tray open, so that the tray does not obstruct access to the interior of the drawer, while providing a place to rest a palette. On another side, the tray may form a brush rack and towel holder.        U.S. Pat. No. 4,318,471 (Hutton) discloses an artist's lap easel constructed of a number of flat rectangular panels, which are hingedly joined together, so that they can be folded flat one upon another, when not in use, and opened up to provide a tilted easel surface with an adjoining horizontal palette surface to one side of the easel. A portion of a supporting panel can be tilted upwardly and separably fastened to the easel to support it, when tilted, and a portion of the palette section can be similarly upwardly tilted, the tilted portion being provided with at least one pocket for supplies. At least one of the panels includes a cutout portion to serve as a carrying handle.        U.S. Pat. No. 3,540,787 (Ford), U.S. Pat. No. 3,378,322 (Johnson), and U.S. Pat. No. 2,751,271 (Dessertenne, et. al.) disclose a combined artist's paint box and easel, an artist's kit and easel support, and a combined box and easel for painting in the open country, respectively.        U.S. Pat. No. 3,202,471 (Wilson), U.S. Pat. No. 815,810 (Goldsworthy), and U.S. Pat. No. 654,841 (Sabin-MacDonald) disclose an artist's box, easel and table, an adjustable artist's desk and easel, and an easel and artist's cabinet, respectively.        U.S. Pat. No. 3,168,363 (Monsour), U.S. Pat. No. 3,132,439 (McGill), and U.S. Pat. No. 2,586,524 (Dussardier) each disclose artist's kits.        Other artist's paint boxes are disclosed at various internet sites, including: http://guerrillapainter.com and http://pochade.com.        
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for an artist's paint box system that can be used for watercolor, oil, acrylics, and pastels, that is portable, that may be carried in one hand or removably fastened to a user's wrist or waist, has removably replaceable paint wells, has a removably replaceable palette that is adapted to hold the removably replaceable paint wells, has storage space for a variety of canvases and other materials to paint on and storage space for paintbrushes, has a removably replaceable viewfinder, has a hinged easel for quickly and conveniently mounting and removing canvases and materials to be painted on, and may be removably fastened to a variety of tripods and stands.
The artist's paint box system should allow for mixing of a variety of different paints and types of paints quickly, efficiently, and easily, with a minimum of waste. The artist's paint box system should allow for mounting and removal of canvases and other materials to be painted on quickly and easily, and should be capable of display, access, and retrieval of paintbrushes and tools in a quick, convenient, and efficient manner. Paints, paintbrushes, and tools should be capable of being displayed and distinguished one from the other quickly and easily, and being accessed, used, removed, and stored quickly, and easily. The artist's paint box should be durable, light weight, easy to carry, inexpensive, safe to use, attractive, sturdy, and of simple construction.