This application is the national stage of PCT/EP02/00371 filed on Jan. 16, 2002 and also claims Paris Convention priority of DE 101 02 219.0
The invention concerns an applicator for liquid or pasty media, in particular for decorative cosmetics such as mascara, comprising a rod-shaped reinforcing core of a first plastic material which is surrounded, at least in the region of its front end, by a support sleeve of a second plastic material, which comprises a plurality of radially outwardly projecting fingers which are integrally formed on the support sleeve and are made from the second plastic material, wherein several fingers, which are distributed over the periphery of the support sleeve, form a finger collar and wherein a plurality of N finger collars having the same number of fingers n are disposed one behind the other in the longitudinal direction of the support sleeve.
Such an applicator can be used in different fields of application. Application of mascara is described by way of example below. The inventive applicator can also be used for coloring hair stands or applying pharmaceuticals.
An applicator for mascara should assure that the mascara can be applied in a simple and uniform fashion. Towards this end, the applicator must initially comb the eyelashes before applying the mascara thereby orienting them in the desired fashion. Moreover, the applicator should be able to receive sufficient mascara to be able to color all eyelashes without having to insert the applicator several times into the mascara supply container. To ensure that the mascara is applied uniformly and without splashing, one must ensure that the applicator does not carry an excessive amount of mascara. For this reason, the applicator is usually wiped on the mascara supply container when being removed from the container. Since the applicator is formed as a freely protruding component with a handle at one end, it must have sufficient stability to be able to safely accommodate the forces acting during use, without breaking. The applicator must, however, be sufficiently flexible to adjust to the curvature of the eyelids and to sufficiently bend in response to improper use to prevent injuries to the eye region of the user.
Up to now, a mascara applicator has conventionally been produced from several wires (U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,838) between which a plurality of short bristles is disposed. The bristles are fixed between the wires through twisting of the wires. A twisted applicator brush of this type has the substantial disadvantage that, due to the compact configuration of the bristles, during use, a considerable portion of the mascara is retained in the gaps formed between the bristles in which impurities, e.g. spores or bacteria may develop. Moreover, uniform combing of the eyelashes is not possible with such an applicator brush due to the plurality of densely packed bristles, since the bristles cannot engage with the eyelashes to produce a combing effect. Moreover, production of a twisted applicator brush is relatively expensive since the wires and the bristles must be produced individually and the bristles must subsequently be twisted into the wires requiring constructively demanding systems. The bristle ends must also be deburred and ground to avoid sharp-edged ends and eliminate any associated risk of injury. An additional disadvantage of twisted applicator brushes is that the metal soul formed by the twisted metal wires can kink during use which renders the applicator brush useless and also presents a great risk to the eye region of the user.
WO 00/54623 discloses an applicator developed to avoid the disadvantages of twisted applicator brushes with bristle stock. That applicator has a reinforcing rod-shaped core onto which an elastomeric plastic jacket is injected in the shape of a support sleeve with integrally formed fingers which project radially outwardly. The fingers have a cross-section which tapers towards their free ends. In this configuration, the fingers have a larger mutual separation at their free ends than in their lower foot regions where they are connected to the support sleeve. Due to the relatively large separation between the free support ends, no or only a small amount of mascara is received in the region of the tips which may be nearly completely removed by the conventional wiper. The tip region of the fingers therefore contains substantially no mascara during use of the applicator and merely combs the eyelashes before they contact the mascara provided in the foot region of the fingers. The relatively small separation between neighboring fingers in their foot region permits accommodation of a sufficiently large amount of mascara to avoid repeated insertion of the applicator into the supply container. It has turned out, however, that the combing action and the application of mascara depend on the constructive design of the applicator and, in particular, on the number, design and configuration of the fingers and not all applicators of the mentioned type obtain satisfactory results.
It is therefore the underlying purpose of the invention to further develop an applicator of this type to ensure an improved combing action and also good and uniform application of the medium to be applied.
This object is achieved in accordance with the invention with an applicator of the above-mentioned type by the parameter combination recited in the independent claim.
All finger collars should have the same number of fingers which are preferably uniformly distributed about the periphery of the support sleeve, i.e. have identical mutual angular separations. The inventive applicator has n fingers per finger collar, wherein n is between of 8 and 16. An even number n of fingers (8, 10, 12 or 16 fingers) is preferred.
While the number n of fingers per finger collar determines the density of the fingers in the peripheral direction, the density of the fingers in the longitudinal direction of the support sleeve and thereby of the applicator is determined by the number N of the finger collars disposed, one behind the other, in the axial direction. The separation between neighboring finger collars should be within a predetermined range and the number of finger collars should not be excessively high to maintain easy handling of the applicator and to provide good mascara application, even when the eyelashes are relatively short. The invention therefore provides that the applicator has between 14 and 30 finger collars and in particular between 20 and 27 finger collars.
The fingers of all finger collars may have the same sizes. It has turned out to be advantageous to form finger collars with fingers of reduced size at the front and rear ends of the applicator. Although these finger collars with smaller fingers are included in the number N of finger collars, the following embodiments refer to the fingers of a normal finger collar in the central region. The length l of the fingers, i.e. the degree by which the finger projects past the support sleeve in a radial direction, is between 1.5 mm to 3.0 mm.
The mutual separation s1 of neighboring finger collars is a parameter which considerably influences the combing action and mascara application. In accordance with the invention, the separation s1 measured between the free ends of similar fingers of neighboring finger collars should be between 0.6 mm and 1.5 mm.
The fingers of neighboring finger collars in the region of the finger feet, i.e. in the connecting region between the fingers and support sleeve, should have a clearance separation s2 of between 0.2 mm and 0.5 mm.
A first embodiment of the invention provides that the applicator has the following parameter combination:
In a further possible embodiment, the parameters, in combination, assume the following values:
The applicator has a substantially circular cylindrical configuration, i.e. an envelope surface of the applicator has a circular cross-section which is either constant along the entire length of the finger field or, as mentioned above, is only reduced in its end regions. For practical handling of the applicator, it has turned out to be advantageous when its outer diameter D is between 6.0 mm and 10.0 mm and in particular 8.0 mm.
The reinforcing, rod-shaped core preferably has a circular cross-section of a diameter of between 1.5 mm and 2.5 mm and in particular 2.0 mm. The core may have a constant cross-section along its entire length. However, the core preferably tapers at its front end.
The rod-shaped core may be straight or alternatively be curved in which case a “banana shape”, i.e. a continuous curvature in one direction is preferred.
The wall thickness a of the support sleeve substantially defines the elastic bearing of the fingers and thereby their flexibility. The radial wall thickness a of the support sleeve should be between 0.3 mm and 1.0 mm, and in particular 0.6 mm, in the region where the core has a constant cross-section. When the core tapers at its front end, the wall thickness a of the support sleeve is correspondingly enlarged in this region such that the outer contour of the support sleeve is circularly cylindrical.
The applicator is preferably produced in a two-component method. In a first step, the rod-shaped core is injected from a first plastic material and an elastomeric second plastic material is subsequently injected onto the core in a second step to form the support sleeve and fingers.
The overall axial length L of the support sleeve should be between 20.0 mm and 35.0 mm and preferably 25.0 mm.
In accordance with the invention, the front region of the applicator may have increased flexibility. This can be effected when the front end section of the support sleeve projects past the front end of the core by a value v, such that the front end section of the applicator is completely made from the elastomeric second plastic material. The value v can be between 1.0 mm and 8.0 mm and is preferably 3.0 mm.
In the most simple geometric design, the middle axes of the fingers of each finger collar lie in a common plane which extends perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the applicator such that the individual fingers are not offset in the longitudinal direction of the support sleeve or of the applicator. Alternatively, at least one finger of a finger collar is offset from the other fingers of the finger collar by a value vF in the longitudinal direction of the support sleeve. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, every second finger of the finger collar is offset such that the fingers of a finger collar lie in two parallel planes, separated in a longitudinal direction of the support sleeve and extending perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the support sleeve. The shift vF is preferably given as a function of the foot diameter dF of the fingers, i.e. as vF=f×dF, wherein f is a factor in the range between 0 (no offset) and 1.5 (maximum offset).
In addition to offsetting individual fingers within a finger collar, neighboring finger collars can also be offset relative to each other in the peripheral direction by an angle α wherein α should be between 0° and 10°. If α=0°, i.e. no angular offset is provided, the tips of similar fingers of the finger collars lie on a straight line extending in the longitudinal direction of the applicator. If neighboring finger collars are angularly offset, the tips of similar fingers of the finger collars are disposed along a circulating spiral line.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, each finger is conical and has a foot diameter dF in a range between 0.4 mm and 1.0 mm, in particular 0.68 mm. The fingers are preferably rounded at their free ends, wherein a radius R of the rounding is in the range between 0.02 mm and 0.2 mm and in particular 0.05 mm.
Further details and features of the invention can be extracted from the following description of embodiments with reference to the drawing.
The applicator 10 has a rod-shaped reinforcing core 11 with a circular cross-section (
In a second phase of the two-component injection molding method, a support sleeve 12 of an elastomeric second plastic material is injected onto the rod-shaped core 11, which is firmly connected to the core 11 via engagement in the recesses 11a and the head 11e of the core 11. The outer contour of the support sleeve 12 is circularly cylindrical and consequently has a constant wall thickness in a central and rear section 12a where it surrounds the middle region of the core 11. The wall thickness steadily increases in the tapering region 11c of the core 11 to compensate for the cross-sectional reduction of the core 11. A front end section 12b of the support sleeve 12 projects past the front end 11d of the core 11 by an amount v (
Radially outwardly projecting fingers 13, which conically taper towards their free ends, are integrally formed on the outer side of the support sleeve 12 and are also made from the elastomeric second plastic material. The fingers 13 are arranged in the form of a total of N finger collars, K1, K2, K3, K4, . . . K26, K27 which are disposed at equal separations behind each other in the longitudinal direction of the support sleeve 12. Each finger collar Ki (see
As can be seen from
As can be seen in
D=d+2a+2l.
The associated fingers 13 of neighboring finger collars have a mutual separation s1 at their free ends while the finger feet of associated fingers of neighboring finger collars have a clearance separation s2 (
The following ranges have proven to be useful for the individual parameters:
The exact parameter values are given in the following list:
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
101 02 219 | Jan 2001 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
PCT/EP02/00371 | 1/16/2002 | WO | 00 | 11/11/2003 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO02/056726 | 7/25/2002 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
3892248 | Kingsford | Jul 1975 | A |
4498490 | Seidler | Feb 1985 | A |
4635659 | Spatz | Jan 1987 | A |
4964429 | Cole | Oct 1990 | A |
6581610 | Gueret | Jun 2003 | B1 |
6616366 | Weihrauch | Sep 2003 | B1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
25 59 273 | Dec 1975 | DE |
80 10 740 | Aug 1980 | DE |
32 19 836 | Dec 1982 | DE |
0 038 524 | Aug 1985 | EP |
0 474 934 | Mar 1992 | EP |
1 070 468 | Jan 2001 | EP |
WO 00 54 623 | Sep 2000 | WO |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20050034740 A1 | Feb 2005 | US |