The invention relates to personal care. More particularly, the invention relates to applicators for underarm antiperspirant and/or deodorant.
A well-developed art exists regarding dispenser/applicators for personal care products. One particular area involves applicators for solid or gel antiperspirant and/or deodorant compositions. Applicators for solid and gel compositions are typically thoroughly similar to each other, with a piston (platform) upwardly movable within a cylinder (barrel) to progressively drive the composition out the barrel upper end. Due to the relative lack of stiffness of many gels, dispensers for such gels commonly include foraminate screen-like applicator elements across the upper end of the barrel. Exemplary applicators are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,007,755, 6,435,748, and D331,534. A common feature of such applicators is in the presence of a shoulder circumscribing the barrel near the upper end to separate a neck portion of the barrel from a main body portion of the barrel. The neck may telescopically be received in a corresponding portion of a cover, with a rim of the cover abutting or closely facing the shoulder. Exemplary shoulder depths are 0.5-2.0 mm.
A personal care applicator apparatus has a barrel, a piston upwardly moveable within the barrel, and an actuator coupled to the piston to shift the piston upward. The barrel has a bottom end, a top end, a front face, a back face, and an external shoulder. The shoulder faces generally upward and has a first portion spanning the front and back faces along a left side and a second portion spanning the front and back faces along a right side. The shoulder substantially lacks a portion centrally along at least a first of the front and back faces. This may provide a locally smooth transition area between a barrel main body portion and a barrel neck. The cover may substantially overlap or underlap this area to provide a desired aesthetic and/or ergonomic configuration.
The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.
Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.
As heretofore described, the apparatus 20 may be of any of a wide variety of known or yet-developed configurations.
In another variation (not shown) the shoulder may continue around substantially the entire circumference but greatly taper so as to be substantially non-existent along at least one of the front or back faces (e.g., a local depth of less than about 0.3 mm). Barrels and/or caps with other than nominal front-to-back symmetry may also be used.
One or more embodiments of the present invention have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the principles may be applied in a redesigning/engineering of any of a variety of existing applicators or in the design/engineering of yet new applicators. Accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.