The present application claims priority to French Patent Application No. 1557147 filed Jul. 27, 2015. The present application claims priority to and the benefit the above-identified application, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The invention relates to a cosmetic product applicator and to an associated applicator assembly.
Said applicators are commonly known as mascara brushes. They can be obtained from fibrous elements held between the longitudinal portions of a twisted metal pin, in which case they are commonly referred to as “twisted brushes”. They can also be formed by injection-moulding plastics material, in which case they are commonly known as “plastics brushes”.
An object of the present invention is to provide an applicator that loads a greater amount of cosmetic product on the lashes to which the product is to be applied. An aspect of the invention thus relates to a cosmetic product applicator, comprising a core and protrusions projecting from the core.
According to aspects of the invention, each protrusion comprises a reservoir for said cosmetic product, and an articulation of said reservoir on said core, said articulation being formed by a narrowed portion, said reservoir extending from said articulation, transversely to said articulation and on either side of said articulation.
An advantage of the reservoirs is their capacity for holding cosmetic product. Therefore, the applicator of the invention comprises areas capable of providing a substantial amount of cosmetic product, and of doing so as closely as possible to the lashes to which the product is to be applied. The applicator of the invention thus allows a greater amount of product to be loaded on said lashes.
Moreover, the articulation of each reservoir gives it flexibility with respect to the core, which allows the reservoir to adapt to the lashes to which the product is to be applied.
According to different embodiments of the invention, which may be taken together or separately:
Aspects of the invention also relate to a cosmetic product applicator assembly, comprising a receptacle having a body which forms a container intended to hold the cosmetic product, and an applicator as described above that can be attached to the receptacle such that the applicator is housed within the container.
Aspects of the invention also relate to an applicator assembly of this type that further comprises a wiper capable of scraping off excess product when the applicator moves from inside the container to outside the container, the applicator being designed such that a plurality of said protrusions are tilted as they pass through said wiper so that the cosmetic product that can be held by the reservoirs on said protrusions is lightly wiped off.
The invention will be better understood, and its other aims, details, features and advantages will become more apparent in the following detailed explanatory description of at least one embodiment of the invention given as a purely illustrative and non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings, in which:
As shown in the drawings, the invention relates to a cosmetic product applicator 10, comprising a core 12 and protrusions 20 projecting from the core 12, said core 12 having a main longitudinal extension direction, referred to as the main direction and labelled X in the drawings.
According to aspects of the invention, each protrusion 20 comprises a reservoir 21 for said cosmetic product. A reservoir 21 is understood to be a shaping that can be loaded with and/or hold cosmetic product, in particular when said applicator 10, and thus the protrusions 20 thereon, are wiped. Said reservoir 21 forms a cup; when said reservoir 21 is viewed from the side, its shape can be compared to that of a croissant or a banana.
In other words, said reservoir 21 is in the shape of a concave cup, which makes a continuous curved line in a plane that passes through said main direction X. This line is labelled Y in
Put another way, said reservoir 21 has an extension direction Y and two opposite ends 23, 24 in said extension direction Y. The extension provided in this direction Y, and more specifically the curvature provided in this extension direction Y, is intended to give said reservoir 21 its storage capacity.
According to aspects of the invention, each protrusion 20 also comprises an articulation 22 of said reservoir 21 with respect to said core 12, said articulation 22 being formed by a narrowed portion. The narrowed portion is understood to be a leg portion for the reservoir 21. In other words, the narrowed portion is a portion that extends radially from the periphery of the core 12. Put another way, the narrowed portion 22 acts a support or base for the reservoir 21; said narrowed portion is located between the core 12 and the outer, convex portion of the reservoir 21 (see
Moreover, as shown in the drawings, said reservoir 21 extends from said articulation 22, transversely to said articulation 22 and on either side of said articulation 22. The articulation allows the reservoir 21 to be movable by several angular degrees relative to the periphery of the core 12. Said reservoir 21 can thus bend about an axis that is transverse to both said main direction X and the radial extension direction of the leg 22.
In other words, the narrowed portion 22 of each protrusion 20 is designed to ensure that the corresponding reservoir 21 has a pivot connection with respect to the core 12, at least in a plane that is orthogonal to both said main direction X and the radial extension direction of the narrowed portion 22.
This pivot connection is not limiting, and said reservoir 21 joined thus on a leg can have other degrees of freedom, in particular a degree of rotational freedom about the radial extension direction of the narrowed portion 22. This is understood to mean that the articulation 22 can undergo twisting about its axis of extension, in particular by several angular degrees, without breaking.
Put another way, said articulation 22 is a ball articulation.
Said articulation 22 is advantageously connected to the reservoir 21 in a region between the centre of said reservoir 21 and one of the ends 23, 24 thereof, in particular by means of the outer, convex part thereof.
Moreover, the ends 23, 24 of said protrusions 20 give a general impression of a jacket for the applicator 10, and it is worth noting that the orientation of the reservoir 21 in relation to its articulation 22 allows at least one of the ends 23, 24 to protrude out such that said end is used to separate the lashes, and so is used to style/comb said eyelashes.
An “end” is understood to be a collection of points or even an area of the reservoir 21. In other words, an end 23, 24 is not formed by the single end point of said reservoir 21 along the axis Y, but rather by all the points that define a tip/a comb tooth that can be used to separate lashes.
An orientation of the reservoir 21 with respect to the main direction X thus allows the applicator 10 of the invention to be given advantageous styling effects.
It should be noted that in this embodiment all the protrusions 20 of one row R12-R12 have a reservoir 21 oriented asymmetrically with respect to said articulation 22, such that a first end 23 of the ends 23, 24 of the reservoir 21 is oriented substantially in the main direction X and such that the second end 24 of the ends 23, 24 of the reservoir 21 is oriented in a direction secant to said main direction X, in particular transversely to said main direction X, so as to create areas Z1 in which the first end 23 of one protrusion 20 is substantially in the same plane as the second end 24 of a protrusion adjacent to a same row R1-R12 (see
It should also be noted that this alternation of the ends 23, 24 that protrude from the jacket of the applicator 10 define areas Z2 (see
It should also be noted that the distribution of the protrusions 20 in rows parallel to the main direction X is not limited to the second embodiment shown in
It should also be noted that the invention also relates to a cosmetic product applicator assembly, comprising a receptacle comprising a body which forms a container (not shown here) intended to hold the cosmetic product, and an applicator 10 as described above that can be attached to the receptacle such that the applicator 10 is housed within the container.
Aspects of the invention also relate to an applicator assembly of this kind that further comprises a wiper (not shown here) capable of scraping off excess product when the applicator 10 moves from inside the container to outside the container. The applicator 10 is designed such that a plurality of said protrusions 20 are tilted as they pass through said wiper such that the cosmetic product that can be held by the reservoirs 21 on said protrusions is lightly wiped off.
In the first (
The reservoirs 21 can thus be oriented asymmetrically with respect to said articulation 22, so as to obtain the styling effect described above, and/or such that one of the ends 23, 24 of the reservoir 21 is tangential to the main direction X. It is this tangential orientation of one of said ends 23, 24 that, inter alia, allows the protrusions 20 to pass through said wiper.
The fourth embodiment (shown in
In the first (
In other words, this has the added advantage that the ends 23, 24 or tips 23, 24 are better distributed in the main direction X, but also around the periphery of the core 12. Put another way, this staggering allows the usable ends 23, 24 to be increased for separating the lashes.
The applicator 10 further comprises two distal ends 13, 15, which are opposite one another along said main direction X, at least one 15 of said ends being free. In the first (
In the third embodiment (
It should be noted that the protrusions 20 and/or the teeth 30 each have a planar surface. This is advantageous in that moulding thereof is simplified.
In addition and also with a view to simplifying the moulding, said protrusions 20 and/or the teeth 30 are positioned such that the planar surfaces of two adjacent protrusions 20 and/or teeth 30 are oriented in the same direction of rotation.
To ensure complete application of the cosmetic product to a user's eyelashes, the rows R1-R12 of protrusions 20 or teeth 30 advantageously extends over the entire periphery of the core 12.
As can be seen in
On the other hand, to provide the core 12 of the applicator 10 with a certain degree of stiffness, the core 12 is provided having a constant, and in particular solid, cross section from the proximal end 13 to the distal end 15.
The material selected for the protrusions 20 is a plastics material, in particular because this makes it easier to produce the substantially complex shapes intended for said protrusions 20, in particular by moulding.
The teeth 30 are also made of plastics material, just like the core 12.
On the other hand, the core 12 and the protrusions 20 or teeth 30 are advantageously moulded together, in particular from the same material.
The protrusions 20 or teeth 30 can also be overmoulded onto said core 12 (see the second embodiment shown in
The core 12 and the protrusions 20 and/or teeth 30 can thus be moulded from a material based on LDPE (low-density polyethylene). Other materials can also be used, namely the material “EXACT” from ExxonMobil or the material “HYTREL” from Dupont, or a mixture of these materials.
It should also be noted that the applicator 10 forms a brush, in particular fitted with a cylindrical coupling 14 that extends in said main direction X from said proximal end 13, said cylindrical coupling 14 being designed to interact with a rod (not shown here) intended to be incorporated in a cap (not shown here) for the aforementioned receptacle.
Equally, it should be noted that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described, and that the features of said embodiments can be combined, without departing from the scope of the invention, in order to combine the make-up effects or to obtain new ones.
It should also be noted that variants are of course possible. In particular, it is also conceivable, in an embodiment not shown here, for the periphery of the core 12 to comprise rows of protrusions 20 over a first angular portion, for example 180°, and to comprise, over the remaining angular portion, rows having other patterns that are also involved in applying the cosmetic product to a user's eyelashes.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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FR1557147 | Jul 2015 | FR | national |