Paint shakers are used to mix paint prior to sale of the paint and/or prior to use to ensure a homogenous mixture of the paint components that may have separated. Additionally, paint shakers are used to thoroughly mix a tint or colorant to the paint to add and/or change the color of the paint.
One apparatus used for shaking paint employs a top plate and a bottom plate that is moved toward and compresses the paint container between the plates. The plates then move in unison in an up and down direction to thoroughly mix the paint. When a color additive is added to the container by first removing the lid, the compression of the two plates ensures that the paint container lid or cap remains secured to the container body. In this way, no paint can be spilled from the container as the container is moved up and down. The plates move up and down relative to one another along a vector that is perpendicular to both of the plates. The top plate is moved up sufficient to allow the paint container to be removed. Typically, the container is loaded into the shaker between the top and bottom plates in a direction that is parallel to the two planes defined by the top and bottom plates.
A second type of apparatus is an orbital or rotary shaker that moves the container in an orbital or rotary path to mix the paint. In this type of shaker, the container is not moved up and down but rather in an orbital or rotary path. In the rotary type shaker, the paint container is typically loaded into a bucket or holder that has a top opening and a cavity to receive the paint container. In contrast to the compression mixers discussed above, the bucket or holder holds the container in place. Since the paint container is not shaken in an up down direction, the paint container need not be clamped in the up/down direction. This type of shaker allows for easy insertion and removal of the paint container by simply placing the paint container within the open end of the bucket or holder. If the cap or lid of the paint container is not securely fixed to the body of the paint container, it is possible that paint will leak out of the cap during the rotary motion of the container.
It would be desirable to combine the benefit of the rotary motion of the rotary shaker with the benefit of a compression clamp to ensure that the paint container does not leak during the rotary motion. It would further be desirable to provide a compression clamp that is easy to use by a retail store operator. It would also be desirable to provide a compression clamp that allows for insertion of the paint container into the bucket or holder from above. It would still further be desirable to provide a compression clamp that can be manually applied. It would still further be desirable to provide a system for holding a paint container having one or more of these or other advantageous features.