1 AUSTRALIA Patents Act COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (ORIGINAL) Class Int. Class Application Number: Lodged: Complete Specification Lodged: Accepted: Published: Priority Related Art: Name of Applicant: NCI Holdings Pty Ltd Actual Inventor(s): George Orfali Address for Service and Correspondence: PHILLIPS ORMONDE FITZPATRICK Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys 367 Collins Street Melbourne 3000 AUSTRALIA Invention Title: A CAN HANDLE Our Ref: 955707 POF Code: 457471/457471 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to applicant(s): SPEC-78046511) 2 A CAN HANDLE The present application is a divisional application from Australian Patent Application No. 2006203575, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by 5 reference. Technical Field The present invention relates to a handle for a portable metal can typically used for contained a liquid, for example a fuel such as petrol. 10 Background A reference herein to a patent document or other matter which is given as prior art is not to be taken as an admission that that document or matter was known or that the information it contains was part of the common general knowledge as at the 15 priority date of any of the claims. Portable, that is, small cans for hazardous liquids, for example 5 litre cans for fuels such as petrol, generally have a top panel that includes a protruding spout for attachment of a closure. Such spouts are located adjacent an edge of the can and are usually screw-threaded for attachment of a screw threaded closure cap, which 20 cap may be of metal or a plastic. A handle for such small portable cans is often attached to the top panel generally centrally thereon. A problem with such portable cans is that the protruding spout is prone to damage and partial detachment from the top panel if the can is accidentally impacted on its top panel. Thus there is a safety risk with these portable cans and this is 25 addressed by the Australian and New Zealand standard AS/NZS 2906 ( 4 th edition, 2001) which requires, among other tests, that such cans pass a drop test, when full, from a height of 1.2 m onto their top panel. An object of the present invention is to provide a metal can in which the abovementioned problem of damage or partial detachment of the spout is reduced 30 such that, for example, at least one embodiment of a can according to the invention may be capable of passing the drop test of AS/NZS 2906. SPEC-7604851] 3 Disclosure of the Invention According to the present invention there is provided a handle for pivotal attachment to a top panel of a metal can for protecting a spout of the can that protrudes to a height from the top panel, the spout being such that a closure is 5 attachable thereon, wherein the handle is shaped such that it can at least partially surround the spout and has a width that at least equals the height of the protruding spout with a closure attached thereon whereby the handle is for protecting the spout against impacts when it lies in a stored position in contact with the top panel, wherein the handle includes a portion for pivotally attaching the handle to the top panel, said 10 portion being shaped such that it is co-operable with the can to hold the handle in its stored position until it is manually moved to an in-use position; and wherein the handle is shaped and sized so as to extend around and above the spout with clearance. Preferably the handle is plastic. For example it may be formed by moulding 15 from a high density polyethylene (HDPE). However, other suitable plastics may alternatively be used. Preferably the handle is shaped such that it extends all around the periphery of the spout. The handle may include a generally circular portion that surrounds the spout, 20 and a majority of the generally circular portion has a width that is greater than or at least equal to the height of the protruding spout with a closure cap attached thereon, the remainder of the generally circular portion providing a hand gripping portion opposite the pivotal attachment of the handle to the top panel and having a width less than the width said majority circular portion such that for the handle in the stored 25 position, a gap exists between the hand gripping portion and the top panel for finger access for manually moving the handle to an in-use position. The pivotal attachment of the handle to the top panel is preferably via a saddle attached to the top panel through which a shaft of the handle passes. The shaft of the handle may include a lobe which is located within the saddle such that the lobe 30 contacts the saddle to hold the handle in its stored position and wherein manually moving the handle to an in-use position causes the lobe to resiliently engage the saddle to create forces within the shaft which bias the handle towards its stored position. SPEC-790465111 4 For a better understanding of the invention and to show how it may be carried into effect, a preferred embodiment thereof will now be described, by way of non limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. 5 Brief Description of Drawings Figure 1 illustrates the top portion of a metal can having a plastic handle (which is in its stored position) pivotally attached to it, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. Figure 2 illustrates the can and handle of Figure 1 with the handle in an in-use 10 position. Figure 3 is a cross-section on line 1ll-Ill of Figure 1. Figure 4 is an isometric view from underneath of a plastic handle according to an embodiment of the invention illustrating a modification. 15 Description of Preferred Embodiment A portable metal can 10 (only partially shown in Figures 1 and 2) has a top panel 12 that is joined by seaming to a side wall 14, as is known. Metal can 10 is typically a 5 litre fuel can made of tin plate. The top panel 12 includes a protruding spout that is joined, for example by welding (not shown) to the under 20 surface of top panel 12, as is also known. The spout is typically screw-threaded (not shown) to receive a complementary screw-threaded closure cap 18 which is typically a plastic cap but may be metal. (The spout is not specifically shown in Figures 1 and 2 because it is hidden by the cap 18 screwed thereon.) A plastic handle 20 is pivotally attached to the top panel 12 and is movable 25 between a stored position (see Figure 1) and an in-use position (see Figure 2). Handle 20 is shaped and sized such that when in its stored position it extends, with clearance, around the spout and cap 18 and it has a maximum width that is greater than or at least equal to the height of the spout and cap 18 above the top panel 12. Thus the handle 20 effectively encompasses the spout and cap 18 sufficiently such 30 that it and not the spout and cap 18 will receive any impacts on the top panel 12 which might otherwise have damaged the spout and its join to the top panel 12. The handle 20 includes a shaft 22 which is pivotally attached to the top panel 12 via two saddles 24 through which the shaft 22 passes. The handle 20 furthermore includes a generally circular portion 26 which surrounds, that is extends all around, SPEC-78046511] 5 the spout and cap 18. This generally circular portion 26 is connected to the shaft 22 by opposite side portions 28. A majority section of the generally circular portion, for example which extends around approximately three quarters of the spout and cap 18 (see reference 30), has a width the same as or slightly greater than the height of the 5 spout and cap 18 above the top panel 12. Thus, when the handle 20 is in its stored position whereat a bottom surface 32 of the section 30 lies in contact with the top panel 12, the top surface 33 of section 30 is at least level with and preferably above the top 34 of the cap 18. This means that impacts that would normally strike the spout and cap 18 structure will instead strike the top surface 33 of section 30 of 10 handle 20 thereby protecting the spout and cap 18. The remainder 36 of the generally circular portion 26 is of less width than the section 30 and provides a hand-gripping section opposite the pivotal attachment 22 24 of the handle 20 to the top panel 12. The lesser width of hand-gripping section 36 leaves a gap 38 between the section 36 and top panel 12 when the handle 20 is in its 15 stored position, which allows finger access for a user to manually move the handle 20 to an in-use position. The section 36 has a top surface 40 that is also preferably above the top surface 34 of cap 18 when the handle 20 is in its stored position. With reference to Figure 3, the shaft 22 includes two oppositely located lobes 42 one of which, in the stored position of handle 20, contacts an upper part 44 of the 20 saddles 24 and the other of which lies in contact with the top panel 12 of the can 10. The lobes 42 are located on the shaft 22 relative to the saddles 24 such that manual movement of the handle 20 towards its in-use position (that is, anti-clockwise for the Figures 1 to 3 depictions as indicated by arrow A in Figure 3) increases the force of contact between the lobes 42 and, respectively, the top 44 of saddles 24 and top 25 panel 12 which, due to the resilience of at least the shaft 22 of the plastic handle 20, creates elastic and torsional restorative forces in the shaft 22 which bias the handle 20 towards its stored position. Thus, when the handle 20 is not being held by a user in an in-use position, that is when it is released by a user, it will return to its stored position. 30 Figure 4 shows an underneath view of a modified plastic handle 20' in which the same reference numerals are used as in Figures 1 to 3 to denote corresponding parts and features. As is clearly evident from Fig. 4, the handle 20' is hollow formed to save on the plastic material from which it is formed. The handle 20' is modified compared to the handle 20 of Figs. 1 and 2 in that the area of contact of the bottom SPEC-780485[i] 6 surface 32 of the circular portion 30 on the top panel 12 of a can 10 is significantly reduced by the inclusion of cut outs 50. The cut outs 50 from the circular portion 30 leave three bottom surface areas 32 to contact the top panel 12 of a can 10, that is, the area of contact of the handle 20' on a can is reduced by over 50%. A variation in 5 the area of contact 32 such as provided by handle 20' may be necessary for a handle 20 on a can 10 to pass the drop test of AS/NZS 2906. The cut outs 50 also save on the amount of plastic material that is used for the handle. Various alternatives to the above described embodiments are possible. Thus the handle 20 need not extend completely around the spout and cap 18, for example 10 opposite side portions such as 28 may join to a hand section such as 36 which extends around the spout and cap 18 opposite the hinged attachment 22-24. Other arrangements for biasing the handle 20 to its stored position are possible, for example a spring tongue element could be moulded with the handle 20 that bears on the top panel 12. Also a single longer saddle instead of two could be used to pivotally attach 15 the shaft 22 of handle 20 to the top panel 12. The invention described herein is susceptible to variations, modifications and/or additions other than those specifically described above and it is to be understood that the invention includes all such variations, modifications and/or additions which fall within the spirit and scope of the following claims. 20 SPEC-780485[1]