Many consumers feel the need to periodically exfoliate their lips, especially prior to applying lip gloss or other lip color or treatment. One prior art device is designed for entirely manually exfoliating the lips by applying a gentle exfoliant gel, and providing a stationary silicone tip for gently—by manual movement—massaging the lips after the exfoliant is applied. This prior art device is made by the Chinese company COOG, and has a unit body that is molded with polypropylene resin, an interior flat piston, and a screw dial. When the screw dial is moved exfoliant gel is pushed to the silicone tip by the piston through a central passage. U.S. Pat. No. 7,785,026 relates to another prior art manually operated exfoliator device that delivers flowable exfoliant to a user's lips.
For other body parts not as sensitive as the lips US patent publication 2010/0217357 shows the general concept of using a vibrating device with an exfoliant, while U.S. Pat. No. 3,030,647 teaches the general concept using a vibrating device for cosmetic application. US patent publication 2004/0096258 shows the general concept of applying lipstick with a vibrating device.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,712,914, 7,465,114, 7,481,592, US patent publication 2007/0289602, WO2011/009282, CN 201393678, and DE 202009007815 all show the general concept of a vibrating motor located in a body for vibrating an applicator for applying some sort of cosmetic to a user, primarily—though not exclusively—for applying mascara externally placed on the applicator.
The invention combines the best features of the prior art devices set forth above while performing a number of additional tasks, and providing enhanced functionality, efficiency, and simplicity.
According to one aspect of the invention a device is provided which includes an exfoliator unit and a lip gloss unit, connected together by a magnetic coupling. The magnetic coupling effectively isolates the lip gloss unit from the adjustment dial for the exfoliating material piston so that movement of the lip gloss unit will not result in discharge of exfoliant.
The exfoliator unit preferably includes a silicone tip, having integral silicone bristles, to which flowable exfoliating material may pass through a check valve from a chamber containing the flowable material in a polycarbonate body. A battery powered motor is also located in the body, adjacent the tip. When the motor is activated an eccentric mass associated with the motor causes the tip to vibrate. The vibrating action of, combined with the flow of exfoliating material to, the tip gently exfoliates the user's lips when the tip is applied thereto.
After exfoliation, the manual lip gloss applicator at the bottom of the body is detached and lip gloss may be manually applied to the user's lips.
The silicone tip bristles may have a length of between about 0.05-0.5 cm, and a diameter or other largest cross-sectional dimension of between about 0.05-0.3 cm; and the silicone of the bristles desirably has a durometer of between about 40-70 on the Shore A scale.
The powered vibration effecting device desirably comprises an eccentric mass motor mounted substantially immediately adjacent the silicone tip. Typically, the motor is mounted so that the axis of rotation thereof is substantially parallel to the dimension of elongation of the tip. The motor may be mounted in a substantially tubular plastic body containing exfoliant material and is in mounting contact with the body at three approximately equidistant positions around the circumference of the motor. A battery and circuitry for operatively connecting and disconnecting the motor to and from the battery, may be provided, the battery and circuitry mounted adjacent the motor in the body, and the motor, battery and circuitry separated from flowable material in the chamber.
The invention also relates to a method of effecting lip exfoliation using a device to apply flowable exfoliant material to the user's lips, and then effecting powered vibration of a tip of the same device to gently exfoliate the user's lips.
It is a primary object of the invention to facilitate the effective exfoliation of and/or gloss application to a human's lips. This and other objects of the invention are clear from the detailed description of the invention and from the appended claims.
An exemplary combined exfoliator and lip gloss applicator device according to the invention is illustrated generally by reference numeral 10 in
The lip gloss applicator unit 11 comprises a main tubular body 13, which preferably is primarily made of a clear plastic and contains conventional liquid or semi-liquid lip gloss, and an applicator component 14. The component 14 includes a desirably opaque plastic screw cap 15 having conventional internal threads 16 (
The unit 11 desirably has a smaller diameter extended portion 21 (see
In the preferred embodiment—see FIG. 9—the magnetic coupling 24 includes a conventional permanent magnet 25 (which may be disc shaped, as illustrated) glued or otherwise operatively attached to the portion 21, for example in a recess in the section thereof closest to unit 12, and a magnetic material (e. g. iron, steel, cobalt, nickel, etc.) plate or disc 26 glued or otherwise attached to the portion of unit 12 closest to unit 11. Alternatively the magnet 25 could be mounted in unit 12 and the magnetic material plate or disc 26 mounted in unit 11; or two or more permanent magnets having their north and south poles facing toward each other could be mounted in cooperating portions of units 11 and 12.
In the preferred embodiment, the exfoliator unit 12 comprises a tubular strong and durable (e. g. polycarbonate) main plastic body 30 having a rotatable adjustment dial 31 at the proximate (the unit 11) end thereof, and a exfoliating tip 32 at the distal end thereof. A conventional clear plastic tubular cap 33 is desirably provided to cover the tip 32 when not in use, the open end of cap 33 having a conventional releasable snap or separable interference connection to the distal end of main body 30 at the area indicated by reference numeral 34 in.
The exfoliating tip 32 is preferably made of silicone, known per se for exfoliating human lips. As used in the specification and claims, the term “silicone” also encompasses other materials having basically the same properties as silicone, including inertness, safety in contacting human skin, moldability, flexibility, and medium firmness. Unlike the prior art, however, the tip 32—as most clearly seen in FIGS. 5 and 10-12—includes a plurality of thin silicone bristles 35 molded integrally therewith. This facilitates the exfoliating action of the tip 32, especially when it is vibrated (as will be further described below).
As a preferable alternative to the relatively thin bristles 35 in
The body 30 has a hollow interior chamber 36 (
The exfoliant material flows through an off-center passageway 37 (see
The manner in which exfoliant material is caused to flow through the check valve is primarily conventional. A piston 44 (
Novel according to the invention is the provision of a mechanism which selectively provides powered vibration of the tip 32 to facilitate exfoliation of a user's lips. While any conventional device may be utilized which provides powered vibration, the preferred embodiment according to the invention comprises a motor shown generally by reference numeral 50 in
The motor cap 53 may be a silicone component over an actuator button. The motor 50 is cradled snugly in compartment 51 as close to the tip 32 as feasible. Also in compartment 51, opposite the motor 50 from tip 32, is a conventional 1.5 v battery 54 and associated conventional circuitry 55. The conventional circuitry 55 may be as simple as a mechanical or solid-state switch and wires connecting the switch to the battery 54 and motor 50, or it may comprise other or additional components. In any event when the motor cap 53 is depressed the circuitry 55 operatively connects the battery 54 to the motor 50, activating the motor 50.
In the preferred embodiment, the motor cap 53 is sonically welded to the body 30, and must be continuously depressed in order for the motor 50 to operate. When the user releases the motor cap 53, the motor 50 immediately stops. However, the circuitry 55 could be designed so that when the motor cap 53 is depressed once the motor 50 is activated, and when the motor cap 53 is depressed again, the circuitry 55 disconnects the battery 54 from the motor 50, turning it off.
For hygiene purposes, it is desired that the chamber 36 not be refillable by the user. That is one reason why the motor cap 53 is sonically welded to the body 30. There is no ability to replace the battery 54, so the unit 12 cannot be used for long periods of time. The battery 54 and motor 50 are of the type that can be safely land-filled.
In the preferred embodiment the motor 50 is mounted in compartment 51 so that the orientation of the motor axis A-A is substantially parallel to the dimension of elongation of the body 30 and the tip 32. This orientation, combined with the close proximity of the motor 50 to the tip 32, provides a medium vibration to the tip 32. If for some reason the strength of the vibrating action of the tip 32 is desirably enhanced, then the motor 50 may be mounted in substantially the same position as in the drawings, only with the axis A-A of the motor 50 substantially perpendicular to the dimension of elongation of the body 30 instead of substantially parallel thereto.
The motor 50, battery 54, and circuitry 55 in compartment 51 are isolated from the exfoliant material in the chamber 36 by any suitable conventional mechanism, such as the seal cover 57 (
The particular manner in which the motor 50 is mounted in the body 30 is unique, and facilitates optimum functionality. As seen in
As seen most clearly in
The device 10 may assembled by connecting all of the components except for the interior cap 64 and those elements on the opposite side thereof from motor 50. As seen in
During use of device 10, the clear cap 33 is removed, the dial 31 is rotated clockwise [C in
When the motor 50 is energized, its eccentric mass is rotated about its axis of rotation A-A, causing it to vibrate. The vibration is transmitted through interior cap 64 to the silicone tip 32, 132. The powered vibration of the tip silicone bristles 35, 135 provides a mechanical action which works with the exfoliant gel to gently exfoliate the user's lips.
Once the user's lips have been exfoliated, the motor cap button 53 is released, turning off the motor 50. Then the user pulls the lip gloss unit 11 away from the exfoliant unit 12, breaking the magnetic coupling 24 therebetween. Then the screw cap 15 containing the doefoot applicator 18 is unscrewed from the clear plastic tube 13, and the liquid lip gloss on the doefoot applicator 18 is applied to the user's lips.
Because of the magnetic coupling 24, the units 11, 12 are held together until actual separation is desired by the user. Yet if the unit 11 is rotated or otherwise acted upon while connected to unit 12 it will not result in rotation of the dial 31, so exfoliant will not be inadvertently moved out of the chamber 36.
There are many modifications possible according to the invention. For example interchangeable heads can be provided for the unit 12. That is, instead of the exfoliating silicone tip 32 some other head could be provided, such as for applying mascara, lipstick, or some other cosmetic, analgesic, or medicinal material, or for more harshly removing materials on a user's skin.
Any and all specific ranges within any broad numerical range set forth above are also specifically provided herein.
The claims are to be accorded the broadest interpretation possible, limited only by the prior art, so as to encompass all equivalent mechanisms and procedures.
This application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/465,150 filed Mar. 16, 2011.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61465150 | Mar 2011 | US |