US3807881A - Cosmetic applicator - Google Patents

Abstract

A cosmetic device has a casing with an applicator having a tip secured to one end thereof and having a passage communicating with the interior of the casing and extending to the outer end of the tip. A resilient porous pad overlies the outer end of the tip and cooperates with the tip to form a reservoir between the pad and the tip. Axially movable means in the casing is adapted to urge cosmetic material in the casing through the passage in the applicator tip to provide a supply of cosmetic material between the tip and the porous pad.

Description

O United States Patent 1191 1111 3,807,881 Seidler Apr. 30, 1974 COSMETIC APPLICATOR 2,442,503 6/1948 Melnikoff 401/175 x [75] Inventor: David Serdler, Forest Hills, NY. Primary Examiner Lawrence Charles [73] Assignee: Menley & James Laboratories, Ltd., Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Smith, Harding, Earley &

Philadelphia, Pa. Follmer [22] Flledz Aug. 3, 1972 [57] ABSTRACT pp 277,577 A cosmetic device has a casing with an applicator having a tip secured to one end thereof and having a pas- 52 us. 01 401/175 401/196 401/207 Sage communicating with the interior ef the easing 51 1111. C1 A450 40/06 and extending the eutei end ef the A resilient [58] Field of Search 401/175 196 207 169 Petetls Peti everiies the elite ehd ef the tiP and eeeP- i erates with the tip to form a reservoir between the pad [56] References Cited and the tip. Axially movable means in the casing is UNITED STATES PATENTS adapted to urge cosmetic materlal 1n the casmg through the passage 1n the appllcator t1p to provide :1 3,010,138 ll/l96l Nadal 401/207 X Supply f cosmetic material between the tip and the 1,839,548 1/1932 Glmonet... 40l/169 orous ad 2,853,728 9/1958 Nadai 401/207 x p p 1,863,106 6/1932 Gimonet 40l/l96 X 7 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEDAPR 30 1974SHEET 2 OF 2 FIG. 7.

FIG.

FIG. 5.

COSMETIC APPLICATOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It has been found to be desirable to supply various cosmetic preparations such as lipstick and eyeshadow in the form of a liquid or a cream. Generally, brush applicators have been employed to apply such cosmetic preparations. In brush applicators a serious problem arises due to the fact that normally after the cosmetic material is urged into the brush it continues to flow providing a substantial excess of material on the brush. Further, such applicators are deficient in that a brush is hard to control and fails to apply the cosmetic preparation at the desired rate or evenly. These defects have been remedied by the cosmetic applicator of this invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A cosmetic applicator has an applicator tip having a passage for communication with the interior of the casing of a cosmetic device having means to urge cosmetic material in the casing through the passage in the applicator tip and extending to the outer end of the tip. A resilient porous pad overlies the outer end of the applicator tip and cooperates with the tip to form a reservoir between the pad and the tip.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a cosmetic device;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation, partially broken away, of the cosmetic device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical section through the novel applicator of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation, partially broken away, of the applicator of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged vertical section through the applicator of FIG. 1 showing the tip reservoir empty;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged vertical section through an alternative embodiment; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged vertical section through an alternative embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Acosmetic device 2 in accordance with the invention has a generally cylindrical casing 4 with alower section 6. Acap 8 having a reducedcylindrical portion 10 closes the lower end ofsection 6. The upper end ofsection 6 has a reduceddiameter portion 12 which is removably engaged by aclosure member 14.Upper section 16 of easing 4 is secured by a tight pressed fit inside the reduceddiameter portion 12 which is removably engaged by aclosure member 14.Upper section 16 of casing 4 is secured by a tight pressed fit inside the reduceddiameter portion 12 oflower casing section 6. Anut member 18 is secured by a tight pressed fit insidelower casing section 6 and threadably engages ascrew member 20 fixedly secured to apiston 22 which carries an 0"-ring 24 in a peripheral groove indicated at 26. 0-ring 24 frictionally engages the inner wall ofupper casing section 16. At its upper endupper casing section 16 has a down turnedflange 30 which is threaded at 32 to threadably receive an applicator. Thecosmetic device 2 as thus far described is old and well known to the art.

Anovel applicator 34 has atip 36 with a beveledupper end 38 and alower end 40 and has a reduceddiameter portion 42. A passage 44 extends fromupper end 38 tolower end 40.Tip 36 while it may be of a rigid material it is advantageously of a soft resilient material such as, for example, polyethylene, polypropylene or natural or synthetic rubber of a durometer from 25 to 75, preferably 40 to 60.

Overlyingupper end 38 oftip 36 is a resilientporous pad 48 which overlies theupper end 38 oftip 36 and cooperates withtip 36 to provide areservoir area 50 for the cosmetic material to be applied.Pad 48 has aperipheral skirt portion 52 which extends downwardly about the periphery oftip 36.

Asplit ring 54 having an upperperipheral flange 56 tightly engagesskirt 52 ofpad 48 securing it tightly to the reduceddiameter portionn 42 oftip 36. The assembly of thetip 36,pad 48 with its dependingskirt portion 52 andsplit ring 54 is retained in a cup'member 58 which has a threaded dependingportion 60 which threadably engagesboss 30 ofupper casing section 16. Dependingportion 60 has apassage 62 which communicates with the interior ofupper casing section 16 and with passage 44 intip 36. Agasket 64 is interposed between thelower end 40 oftip 36. and theupper casing section 16.

OPERATION In operation acosmetic material 66, for example, a cosmetic cream or liquid is forced upwardly bypiston 22 and 0-ring 24 throughpassages 62 and 44 to expandpad 48 outwardly and formreservoir 50. Piston 22 is advanced upwardly by relative rotation oflower casing section 6 andupper casing section 16 to causenut member 18 to rotate relative to threadedmember 20 which rotates bodily withupper casing section 16 since the friction between 0-ring 24 andcasing 16 while permitting axial movement is sufficiently great to cause 0-ring 24 andpiston 22 to rotate withupper casing section 16. As indicated above, the operation with respect to feeding the cosmetic preparation out ofupper casing section 16 is known to the art. However, the tip reservoir is novel and acts to store the flow of cosmetic material after relative casing rotation for example for 180 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 The position of thepad 48 abutting theupper end 38 oftip 36 before thereservoir 50 is filled is shown in FIG. 5.

Assuming that the cosmetic preparation is for the lips, by way of example, the user next bringspad 48 into contact with the lips and exerts sufficient pressure to cause thepreparation 66 to pass out of thereservoir 50 throughpad 48 onto the lips. The reservoir eliminates the necessity for repeatedly feeding the cosmetic preparation out of casing 4, one feeding operation generally being sufficient for the entire application of the preparation to the desired location.

ALTERNATIVE EMBODIMENTS As shown in FIG. 6, the size of the reservoir can be increased by providing atip 70 which differs fromtip 36 only in having a concave reservoir cavity 72 and a correspondingly shorter passage 74.Pad 48 is shown in full before the reservoir is filled and in phantom after filling.

As shown in FIG. 7, the reservoir can be enlarged by employing a resilient porous pad which is initially spaced above theupper end 38 oftip 36 leaving areservoir 82 before the cosmetic material is urged upwardly.Pad 80 is shown in phantom in its position after the cosmetic material has been introduced into the reservoir.Pad 80 has askirt 84.

The resilient porous pads employed in the invention are an open cell synthetic resin (plastic) foam such as, for example, an open cell foam of polyvinyl chloride or polyurethane. Reference may be made to the Modern Plastics Encyclopedia 1 968 for w ell known open cell synthetic resins and to Urethane Foams Technology and Applications 1971 published by Noyes Data Corporation, Park Ridge, New Jersey which are incorporated herein by reference. The pore size will vary depending on the preparation, being small enough to prevent dripping when the reservoir in the tip is full and large enough so that the user can force the preparation through the pad when pressing on it. Generally the pores will be in the range of 3080 per lineal inch with a preferred range being 40-60 pores per lineal inch.

Hydrofoam and Acquel sold by the Scott Paper, Philadelphia, Pa. has been found to be a satisfactory available polyurethane. Other porous resilient materials may be used such as resilient woven or knitted fabrics.

The above description is illustrative and is not intended to be limiting.

I claim:

1. A cosmetic device comprising a casing for containing a cosmetic preparation,

means to maintain a cosmetic preparation in the casing under pressure,

a solid applicator tip having a passage extending from the upper end to the lower end of the tip,

means to secure the tip to the upper end of thecasing with the lower end of said passage in communication with the interior of the casing, and

a resilient porous pad overlying the upper end of the tip and adapted to provide a reservoir for the cosmetic preparation between the pad and the tip when the resilient pad is expanded outwardly responsive to the pressure of the cosmetic preparation.

2. A cosmetic device in accordance with-claim 1 in which the porous pad is an open cell synthetic resin foam.

3. A cosmetic device in accordance with claim 1 in which the applicator tip is resilient.

4. A cosmetic device in accordance with claim 1 in which the applicator tip is resilient and the porous pad is an open cell synthetic resin foam.

5. A cosmetic device in accordance with claim 1 in v which the upper end of the tip is beveled.

6. A cosmetic device in accordance with claim 1 in which the pad is spaced from the upper end of the tip.

7. A cosmetic device in accordance with claim 1 in which the upper end of the tip has a cavity communicating with the passage for supplying the cosmetic preparation to the pad.

Claims (7)

1. A cosmetic device comprising a casing for containing a cosmetic preparation, means to maintain a cosmetic preparation in the casing under pressure, a solid applicator tip having a passage extending from the upper end to the lower end of the tip, means to secure the tip to the upper end of the casing with the lower end of said passage in communication with the interior of the casing, and a resilient porous pad overlying the upper end of the tip and adapted to provide a reservoir for the cosmetic preparation between the pad and the tip when the resilient pad is expanded outwardly responsive to the pressure of the cosmetic preparation.

2. A cosmetic device in accordance with claim 1 in which the porous pad is an open cell synthetic resin foam.

3. A cosmetic device in accordance with claim 1 in which the applicator tip is resilient.

4. A cosmetic device in accordance with claim 1 in which the applicator tip is resilient and the porous pad is an open cell synthetic resin foam.

5. A cosmetic device in accordance with claim 1 in which the upper end of the tip is beveled.

6. A cosmetic device in accordance with claim 1 in which the pad is spaced from the upper end of the tip.

7. A cosmetic device in accordance with claim 1 in which the upper end of the tip has a cavity communicating with the passage for supplying the cosmetic preparation to the pad.

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