Paint can accessory

Claim 1

A paint can accessory adapted to be removably mounted on the annular rim of a paint can to prevent paint from flowing into the rim channel thereof, comprising: an annular ring disposed over the rim channel of the paint can, said ring having an outer skirt depending therefrom extending around the outer periphery of the can and an inner skirt depending therefrom extending around the inner periphery of the can; a pouring spout for pouring paint from the can extending substantially horizontally and in substantially the radial plane of said ring, said spout being substantially planar and having an edge of constantly changing radius, and said spout also being circumscribed by a wall extending substantially around said ring; and a plurality of leveraging ribs depending axially from the underside of said spout and extending laterally from said outer skirt in substantially parallel spaced apart relation for transmitting leveraging force to a sector of said ring, said ribs being spaced sufficiently far apart and having sufficient axial depth so that the fingers of the hand contact the underside of said spout in the channels formed between said ribs when leveraging force is applied to remove the accessory from the can, the ribs varying in length relative to their lateral dimension to correspond with the changing radius of the spout with the ribs being shorter adjacent the lateral edges of the spout.