The present disclosure relates to a rod-shaped cosmetic material feeding container that permits a rod-shaped cosmetic material to be protruded and retracted.
Conventionally, as a rod-shaped cosmetic material feeding container, there has been known the one described in Patent Document 1 cited below. The rod-shaped cosmetic material feeding container described in Patent Document 1 includes a front portion of the container, a rear portion of the container, a movable body, and a female screw member. The rear portion of the container is mounted to the front portion of the container in such a manner as to be rotatable and non-movable in an axial direction in relation to the front portion of the container. The movable body is non-rotatable about the axis and movable in the axial direction in relation to the front portion of the container, supports the rod-shaped cosmetic material at a leading end thereof, and has a male screw at an outer peripheral portion thereof. The female screw member is non-rotatable about the axis in relation to the rear portion of the container, and is provided at an inner peripheral portion thereof with a female screw for screw engagement with the male screw. Relative rotation of the front portion of the container and the rear portion of the container causes a screw part composed of the male screw and the female screw to function in such a manner that the movable body is advanced or retracted, thus the rod-shaped cosmetic material is protruded or retracted through an opening at a leading end of the container.
Particularly, in this rod-shaped cosmetic material feeding container, the female screw member has the female screw and a spring portion which can be contracted and extended in the axial direction, the female screw and the spring portion being provided in this order from a front side toward a rear side, and a rear end of the spring portion is substantially inhibited from moving in the axial direction. It is described, therefore, that when an axial-directionally forward or rearward impact is exerted on the female screw member due, for example, to dropping of the rod-shaped cosmetic material feeding container, the spring portion contracts or extends in the axial direction, attended by an axial-directionally forward or rearward movement of the female screw, and the movable body having the male screw in screw engagement with the female screw is also moved forward or rearward accordingly, with the result that the impact on the rod-shaped cosmetic material can be absorbed, and the rod-shaped cosmetic material can be protected.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-96009
Here, in the above-mentioned rod-shaped cosmetic material feeding container, as aforementioned, when an impact in the axial direction (rearward or forward) is exerted on the female screw member, the spring portion contracts or extends to thereby absorb the impact. In this case, after the contraction or extension, in order to restore into its original shape, the spring portion vigorously extends or contracts in the opposite sense in the axial direction. Therefore, an impact due to a restoring force is again exerted on the rod-shaped cosmetic material, and, accordingly, further enhancement of the protection of the rod-shaped cosmetic material is desired. In addition, as a pencil-type cosmetic material container such as a rod-shaped cosmetic material feeding container, a compact one that is convenient to carry and has good appearance is demanded.
Thus, an object of the present disclosure is to provide the rod-shaped cosmetic material feeding container that can sufficiently protect the rod shaped cosmetic material and that is rendered compact.
A rod-shaped cosmetic material feeding container according to the present disclosure includes a tubular container, a movable body, a female screw portion, a first elastic body and a second elastic body. The tubular container is provided with a front portion of the container and a rear portion of the container. The rear portion of the container is mounted to the front portion of the container in such a manner as to be rotatable about an axis and immovable in an axial direction. The movable body is non-rotatable about the axis and movable in the axial direction in relation to the front portion of the container. The movable body supports a rod-shaped cosmetic material at a leading end thereof and is provided with a male screw at an outer peripheral portion thereof The female screw portion is non-rotatable about the axis in relation to the rear portion of the container and movable in the axial direction. The female screw portion is provided at an inner peripheral portion thereof with a female screw for screw engagement with the male screw. The first elastic body accumulates an elastic force between the front portion of the container and the female screw portion and restrains the female screw portion from moving forward in the axial direction. The second elastic body restrains the female screw portion from moving rearward in the axial direction. Relative rotation of the front portion of the container and the rear portion of the container causes a screw part composed of the male screw and the female screw to function to advance or retract the movable body, whereby the rod-shaped cosmetic material is protruded or retracted through an opening at a leading end of the container. The first elastic body and the second elastic body are disposed along the axial direction in such a manner as to overlap with each other in a radial direction.
According to the rod-shaped cosmetic material feeding container configured as above, the rod-shaped cosmetic material is supported on the leading end of the movable body, and when an impact in the axial direction is exerted on the female screw portion having the female screw for screw engagement with the male screw of the movable body and the female screw portion is moved forward in the axial direction, the forward movement of the female screw portion is restrained by the first elastic body, and the impact is absorbed. Thereafter, a restoring force for restoring the first elastic body into its original shape is exerted on the first elastic body, and the female screw portion is moved rearward. This rearward movement of the female screw portion is restrained by the second elastic body, and the impact due to the restoring force of the first elastic body is absorbed. In addition, when an impact in the axial direction is exerted on the female screw portion and the female screw portion is moved rearward in the axial direction, the rearward movement of the female screw portion is restrained by the second elastic body, and the impact is absorbed. Thereafter, a restoring force for restoring the second elastic body into its original shape is exerted on the second elastic body, and the female screw portion is moved forward. This forward movement of the female screw portion is restrained by the first elastic body, and the impact due to the restoring force of the second elastic body is absorbed. In this way, the impact in the axial direction exerted on the female screw portion is absorbed by the elastic body on one side, and the impact due to the restoring force at the time of restoration of the elastic body on the one side is absorbed by the elastic body on the other side. Therefore, the rod-shaped cosmetic material supported on the leading end of the movable body can be protected sufficiently. Moreover, the first elastic body and the second elastic body are disposed along the axial direction, not in series with each other but in such a manner as to overlap with each other in the radial direction, and, accordingly, an axial-directionally compact structure can be realized.
Here, as a configuration to preferably produce the above described operations, specifically, the following configuration can be listed. The rod-shaped cosmetic material feeding container includes an anti-rotation portion provided in a row with a rear end portion of the second elastic body. The anti-rotation portion is engaged with the rear portion of the container in such a manner as to be non-rotatable about the axis by an axial-directionally rearward elastic urging of the first elastic body.
In addition, as a configuration to preferably produce the above described operations, specifically, the following configuration can be listed. The rod-shaped cosmetic material feeding container includes a female screw member provided with the female screw portion, the second elastic body, and the anti-rotation portion in a row in this order from a front side toward a rear side in the axial direction.
Thus, according to the present disclosure, there can be provided a rod-shaped cosmetic material feeding container by which a rod-shaped cosmetic material can be protected sufficiently and a compact structure can be realized.
Preferred embodiments of a rod-shaped cosmetic material feeding container according to the present disclosure will be described below referring to
First, the first embodiment illustrated in
As illustrated in
The rod-shaped cosmetic material feeding container 100 is a tubular container of which the external appearance is composed of a leading tube 1 constituting a front portion of the container and a main body tube 2 constituting a rear portion of the container. In the leading tube 1 and the main body tube 2, there are accommodated a rod-shaped cosmetic material M, a rod-shaped cosmetic material support 3 that is a movable body supporting the rod-shaped cosmetic material M and including a screw part, a female screw member 4 that includes a screw part and an elastic body 4b, and an elastic body 5 different from the elastic body 4b. Note that a cap 6 is detachably mounted to a front side of the main body tube 2 in such a manner as to cover the leading tube 1.
As illustrated in
The female screw member 4 is integrally formed from a resin. As illustrated in
The female screw portion 4a has a cylindrical shape, and a pair of screw engagement projections (female screw) 4d constituting one-side portion of the screw part are oppositely provided at an inner peripheral surface on the leading end side of the female screw portion 4a.
The elastic body 4b, here, is a resin spring formed to be integral with the female screw portion 4a and the anti-rotation portion 4c. The resin spring 4b includes a plurality of annular portions 4e which are substantially rectangular in sectional shape, have a constant thickness, and are aligned at intervals in the axial direction. The annular portions 4e are interconnected by a pair of connection portions 4f which extend in the axial direction and which are opposed to each other in a radial direction. Here, the annular portions 4e have a circular annular shape, and the pair of connection portions 4f are disposed at a 90° shift about the axis in relation to the pair of connection portions 4f to which they are adjacent in the axial direction. Besides, the resin spring 4b is not twisted (is hard to be twisted) in the rotating direction, because of its having the above-mentioned annular portions 4e and connection portions 4f. The resin spring 4b restrains the female screw portion 4a from moving rearward in the axial direction.
The anti-rotation portion 4c includes a cylindrical portion 4g provided in a row with a rear end portion of the resin spring 4b and larger in diameter than the resin spring 4b, and a plurality of (here, four) projections 4h provided at an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 4g at regular intervals along the circumferential direction. The projections 4h are for engagement with the ribs 2b of the main body tube 2 in the rotating direction.
In addition, as depicted in
The leading tube 1 is configured in the shape of a stepped cylinder having a stepped portion 1a at an outer peripheral surface of an intermediate portion in the axial direction. Of the leading tube 1, a small-diameter cylindrical portion continuing from the stepped portion la to the rear side is made to be an inserted portion inserted in the main body tube 2, and a cylindrical portion continuing from the stepped portion 1a to the front side, being large in diameter and tapered toward the leading end is made to be a grip portion which protrudes from the leading end of the main body tube 2 and which is gripped by the user. At that outer peripheral surface of a portion of the leading tube 1 which is on the rear side from the stepped portion 1a, a projected portion 1b for engagement with the recess 2a of the main body tube 2 in the axial direction is provided in a circular annular shape.
The leading tube 1 is provided with a rod-shaped cosmetic material bore 1c which extends rearward from an opening 1h at the leading end and which permits the rod-shaped cosmetic material M to slide therein. At a plurality of portions (here, equally spaced four positions) of the periphery of the rod-shaped cosmetic material bore 1c, support piece grooves 1d which accommodate support pieces 3e (described later) of the rod-shaped cosmetic material support 3 and which permit the support pieces 3e to slide therein are provided in a row, over a range from the vicinity of the opening 1h to a rear portion of the leading tube 1. In addition, the rod-shaped cosmetic material bore 1c and the support piece grooves 1d at the periphery of the rod-shaped cosmetic material bore 1c constitute an advancement/retraction bore 1e in which the rod-shaped cosmetic material M and the support pieces 3e slide. Here, the rod-shaped cosmetic material bore 1c has a circular sectional shape like that of the rod-shaped cosmetic material M, whereas the support piece grooves 1d are substantially rectangular in sectional shape. Besides, leading end surfaces 1g of the support piece grooves 1d constitute an advancement limit for the rod-shaped cosmetic material support 3 against which the leading ends of the support pieces 3e of the rod-shaped cosmetic material support 3 are abutted (see
Note that the advancement/retraction bore 1e, which is non-circular in sectional shape, is provided to extend up to a position to which the female screw member 4 can be moved forward when an axial-directionally forward impact is exerted on the female screw member 4 (see
In addition, the leading tube 1 is inserted into the main body tube 2 starting from its inserted portion, its stepped portion la is abutted against a leading end surface of the main body tube 2, and its projected portion lb is engaged with the recess 2a of the main body tube 2 in the axial direction, whereby the leading tube 1 is mounted to the main body tube 2 in such a manner as to be immovable in the axial direction and rotatable about the axis in relation to the main body tube 2.
The rod-shaped cosmetic material support 3 includes a support portion 3a for supporting a rear end portion of the rod-shaped cosmetic material M, and a shaft body portion 3b on the rear side from the support portion 3a. The shaft body portion 3b is a shaft body extending in the axial direction, and, at an outer peripheral surface of the shaft body portion 3b, a male screw 3c constituting an other-side portion of the screw part is provided in such a manner as to extend in the axial direction. Note that a leading end of the male screw 3c is made to be lower than the male screw 3c on the rear side from the leading end such as to release the screw engagement with the screw engagement projections 4d when a further rotating operation in a feeding-back direction is carried out at a retraction limit of the rod-shaped cosmetic material support 3. In addition, a terminal end (rear end) of the male screw 3c is configured to be relieved rearward as it is, such as to release the screw engagement with the screw engagement projections 4d when a further rotating operation in the feeding-out direction is carried out at the advancement limit of the rod-shaped cosmetic material support 3 (the details will be described later).
The support portion 3a on the front side from the shaft body portion 3b includes a base portion 3d and support pieces 3e. The base portion 3d has a circular overall sectional shape coinciding substantially with the overall shape of the rod-shaped cosmetic material M and against which a rear end surface of the rod-shaped cosmetic material M is abutted. The support pieces 3e are provided at a plurality of positions (here, equally spaced four positions) in the circumferential direction of the outer peripheral surface of the base portion 3d in such a manner as to protrude toward the leading end side and support therebetween a rear end portion of the rod-shaped cosmetic material M abutted against the base portion 3d.
Besides, the rod-shaped cosmetic material support 3 is inserted into a rear-end-side portion of the leading tube 1 starting from the leading end side thereof and is inserted into the advancement/retraction bore le in such a manner that its base portion 3d enters the rod-shaped cosmetic material bore 1c of the leading tube 1 and that its support pieces 3e enter the support piece grooves 1d of the leading tube 1. Therefore, the support piece grooves 1d in which the support pieces 3e of the rod-shaped cosmetic material support 3 enter are utilized as anti-rotation means for the rod-shaped cosmetic material support 3, so that the rod-shaped cosmetic material support 3 is mounted to the leading tube 1 in such a manner as to be movable in the axial direction and non-rotatable about the axis in relation to the leading tube 1. In this state, the shaft body portion 3b of the rod-shaped cosmetic material support 3 enters into the female screw member 4, resulting in a state in which the male screw 3c of the rod-shaped cosmetic material support 3 is in screw engagement with the screw engagement projections 4d of the female screw member 4.
In addition, an elastic body (first elastic body) 5 is interposed between a rear end surface 1f of the leading tube 1 and the cylindrical portion 4g of the anti-rotation portion 4c of the female screw member 4. The elastic body 5 here is a coil spring (compression spring), and is set to have a lower spring constant than that of the above-mentioned resin spring 4b. The coil spring 5 is disposed in such a manner as to surround the resin spring 4b of the female screw member 4, in other words, disposed along the axial direction in such a manner as to externally overlap with the resin spring 4b in the radial direction. Note that end portions of the coil spring 5 may be fixed or may not be fixed.
In a state in which the rod-shaped cosmetic material support 3 is located at the retraction limit which is an initial position shown in
Note that as aforementioned, the rod-shaped cosmetic material feeding container 100 can be formed as a rod-shaped cosmetic material cartridge, and can be used in the state of being mounted to one end side of an elongate cylindrical cartridge accommodating container (not shown). Specifically, as particularly depicted in
Now, operations of the rod-shaped cosmetic material feeding container 100 will be described below.
When the cap 6 shown in
When the application is finished and the leading tube 1 and the main body tube 2 are put into relative rotation (rotating operation) in the feeding-back direction which is the direction opposite to the one direction by the user, the rod-shaped cosmetic material support 3 is retracted, and the rod-shaped cosmetic material M is retracted from the opening 1h at the leading end of the leading tube 1.
Here, in the case where the rod-shaped cosmetic material feeding container 100 is dropped, for example, starting from the leading end side, the impact of the dropping causes first the female screw portion 4a (female screw member 4) to be moved forward in the axial direction, as shown in
On the other hand, when the rod-shaped cosmetic material feeding container 100 is dropped, for example, starting from the rear end side, the impact of the dropping causes first the female screw portion 4a to be moved rearward in the axial direction, as shown in
Thus, in the present embodiment, the impact in the axial direction exerted on the female screw portion 4a is absorbed by one spring 4b (5), and the impact due to the restoring force at the time of restoration of one spring 4b (5) is absorbed by the other spring 5 (4b); therefore, the rod-shaped cosmetic material M supported by the rod-shaped cosmetic material support 3 in screw engagement with the female screw portion 4a (screw engagement projections 4d) can be protected sufficiently. Moreover, both the springs, namely, the coil spring 5 and the resin spring 4b are disposed along the axial direction, not in series with each other but in such a manner as to overlap with each other in the radial direction, and, therefore, the rod-shaped cosmetic material feeding container 100 can be rendered compact in the axial direction.
Note that as aforementioned, when the rod-shaped cosmetic material feeding container 100 integrates with the cartridge accommodating container, as a rod-shaped cosmetic material cartridge, naturally, the same operation/working-effect as above can be obtained.
Incidentally, in the rod-shaped cosmetic material feeding container 100 as above, when the rotating operation in the feeding-out direction by the user is continued to cause the rod-shaped cosmetic material support 3 to reach the advancement limit, as shown in
In addition, when the rotating operation in the feeding-back direction by the user is continued to cause the rod-shaped cosmetic material support 3 to reach the retraction limit which is an initial position shown in
Note that in the case where a spring which would be twisted by a rotating operation at an advancement or retraction limit, for example, an ordinary coil spring or a helical resin spring or the like is used in place of the resin spring 4b which is not twisted even upon a rotating operation at the above-mentioned advancement or retraction limit, when the rod-shaped cosmetic material support 3 reaches the advancement limit, the screw engagement between the screw engagement projections 4d and the male screw 3c is released after the coil spring or the helical resin spring is twisted to a certain extent, and, thus, a time lag would be generated. Besides, when the rod-shaped cosmetic material support 3 reaches the retraction limit, idle rotation starts after the coil spring or the helical resin spring is twisted to a certain extent, and, thus, a time lag is generated. In other words, in the case where a coil spring or a helical resin spring or the like is used in the female screw member 4, a time lag is generated at the advancement limit and at the retraction limit; on the other hand, by using the resin spring 4b which is not twisted in the rotating direction as in the present embodiment, generation of a time lag at the advancement limit and at the retraction limit can be inhibited, and damage to component parts can be prevented.
As illustrated in
Specifically, the resin spring 14b has a configuration wherein annular portions 14e differing in shape from those in the first embodiment are aligned in the axial direction, and the annular portions 14e are interconnected by a pair of connection portions 14f which extend shortly in the axial direction and are opposed to each other in a radial direction; like in the first embodiment, the pair of connection portions 14f are disposed at a 90° shift about the axis in relation to the pair of connection portions 14f to which they are adjacent in the axial direction.
The annular portions 14e have a configuration wherein their portions opposed to (facing) each other along the circumferential direction over a range from one-side connection portion 14f toward the other-side connection portion 14f of the pair of connection portions 14f have inclined surfaces 14i inclined in such a manner as to be spaced more away from the opposed (facing) annular portion 14e on the opposite side in going radially outward.
More specifically, in a side view in which the pair of connection portions 14f overlap with each other (for example, see
Even a resin spring 14b configured in this manner is not twisted (is hard to be twisted) in the rotating direction, like in the first embodiment, and, naturally, the same operation/working-effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained.
While the present disclosure has been specifically described above with reference to the embodiments thereof, the present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiments. For instance, while the first elastic body has been a coil spring whereas the second elastic body has been either of the resin springs 4b or 14b described in the first and the second embodiments as specially preferable in the above embodiments, the first elastic body may, for example, be a resin spring or the like whereas the second elastic body may, for example, be a rigid coil spring or the like.
In addition, while the first elastic body has been disposed on the outside of the second elastic body for realizing a simple structure in the above embodiments, the first elastic body may be disposed on the inside of the second elastic body.
Furthermore, the male screw and the female screw may be any ones that function in the same manner as screw threads, such as a group of intermittently disposed projections or a group of helically and intermittently disposed projections, and the screw engagement projections may be a continuous screw thread.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2016-103366 | May 2016 | JP | national |
Number | Date | Country |
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2012-96009 | May 2012 | JP |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20170340088 A1 | Nov 2017 | US |