EP0384026A2 - Device for applying cosmetics - Google Patents

Abstract

In the case of a device for applying cosmetics, such as powder, pastes or the like, with an applicator which is pressed resiliently against the surface of the cosmetic housed in a storage space, the reliable, forced transfer of cosmetics to the applicator is when two housing parts are pulled apart the pin-like device with a simple construction is provided such that the applicator (8) or the storage space (18) for the cosmetic (19) are rotatably mounted within their respective housing part (1 or 2), and that under the force of the spring (16 ) when removing the two housing parts (1 or 2) from each other, the rotatably mounted applicator (8) or the storage space (18) relative to the fixed storage space (18) or the applicator (8) while maintaining the surface contact between the applicator (8) and the cosmetic (19) located in the storage space (18) is rotated.

Description

The invention is directed to a device for applying cosmetics, such as powder, pastes or the like, comprising two sleeve-like housing parts which can be plugged into one another, an applicator being arranged in the first housing part in such a way that this housing part serves as a sleeve for the applicator when that another, second housing part is withdrawn, the cosmetic to be applied being accommodated in a storage space in the second housing part, and the applicator and the storage space for the cosmetic being pressed against one another by means of a spring in the connected state of the first and second housing parts.

Such a device is known from EP-OS 0 263 329. In this known device, the first and second housing parts are connected via an annular bead or a corresponding ring bulge can be axially latched into one another, the housing parts, which are circular in cross section, then also being able to be rotated relative to one another in the state that is latched in this way. The spring force with which the applicator is pressed against the storage space and thus also against the surface of the cosmetic located in the storage space ensures that when the two housing parts are detached from one another in order to use the applicator, a minimum amount of cosmetic is used on the applicator tip sticks. However, if the two housing parts are simply pulled axially apart from one another in the usual manner when the device is opened, a relatively small amount of the cosmetic will generally adhere to the applicator tip, so that a new immersion will soon be necessary.

Proceeding from this, the invention has for its object to design a device of the type mentioned in such a way that, regardless of a deliberately caused rotary movement before opening the device, it is ensured in any case that a sufficient amount of the cosmetic is absorbed by the applicator for prolonged use is, the construction should nevertheless be realizable with a relatively small number of individual parts and thus as an inexpensive disposable product.

This object is achieved in that the applicator or the storage space for the cosmetic are rotatably mounted within their respective housing part, and that under the force of the spring when the two housing parts are removed from one another, the rotatably mounted applicator or storage space is rotated relative to the fixed storage space or the applicator while maintaining the surface contact between the applicator and the cosmetic located in the storage space.

This ensures that when using such a device it is no longer necessary to consciously cause a relative rotational movement of the housing parts before pulling them apart, but that, for example, a user in each case executes a quick make-up process on the applicator in between receives sufficient amount of the cosmetic to be applied by simply pulling apart the housing parts.

It is preferably provided that the applicator is arranged at the tip of a plunger which is axially displaceable along a limited distance in the first housing part, the plunger having a twist thread section which penetrates a corresponding opening in a transverse wall of the first housing section, and the plunger in Direction towards the pantry is spring loaded.

This measure leads to the fact that when the two housing parts, which are preferably locked together, are released from each other in the axial direction, the spring presses on the plunger, so that its drill thread section is pressed through the corresponding opening and thereby the stamp and the applicator connected to it perform a rotary movement. Since the plunger in the first housing part is axially displaceable over a certain distance, it remains despite the axial movement apart of the housing parts over this extension under the force of the spring under contact with the surface of the cosmetic in the storage container, i.e. the applicator forcibly leads one under pressure Rotating movement on the surface, so that in any case a defined amount of cosmetic is stripped off and transferred to the applicator. Despite this advantage, the overall construction remains extremely simple, and it can be realized from parts that are easy to manufacture and assemble from a plastics engineering point of view.

The spring designed as a compression spring is advantageously arranged between a transverse wall of the first housing part and a transverse wall connected to the tappet. The spring, in particular a helical spring, can accordingly be used easily and without further anchoring during assembly in this space.

To axially limit the displacement path of the plunger, an annular collar is preferably arranged in the first housing part, which cooperates with a transverse wall of the plunger as a stop. The same transverse wall can be used here, which serves as a system for the compression spring.

The twist thread section is used to achieve the simplest possible manufacture using plastics technology of the plunger made of a twisted, longitudinally injected square plastic. Accordingly, the corresponding recess in the transverse wall of the first housing part has a square profile. This configuration has the further advantage over the prior art recognized at the outset that the interlocking housing parts do not necessarily have to have a circular cross section in order to enable relative rotatability. Rather, these housing parts can also have a rectangular, rounded, rectangular or oval cross-section, in order, for example, to thereby specify a preferred direction for holding the device when applying the cosmetic during handling.

The first and second housing parts can advantageously be made of plastic, and at least the housing part surrounding the storage space can be partially transparent. This makes it possible to simultaneously implement a color and fill level indicator for the cosmetic located in the storage room.

In a further, particularly advantageous embodiment it is provided that in each case a storage container is arranged in a single, common housing in the region of the outer ends of the housing, two plungers provided with applicators being arranged so as to be longitudinally displaceable so as to be spring-loaded away from each other. This configuration makes it possible to accommodate two cosmetics with different colors or with different consistency in a single stick-like device. This takes into account the fact that modern make-up technology often works with two different shades of color, so that it is not necessary to provide two separate pens for this and to look for them separately from a women's handbag or a cosmetic bag.

To achieve a particularly simple construction, it is provided that a single compression spring is arranged between the rear transverse walls of the two plungers. Since the detachable housing parts are latched axially when not in use, they form an abutment for the spring when the applicator is used on the other housing part.

In the sense of such a design simplification, it is also provided that the two storage containers are each arranged in a housing part, and that the two housing parts are connected to one another via a housing part receiving the two plungers. This configuration makes it possible to largely use the identical parts for the production of devices according to the invention with one or two applicators, only a separate housing end part being required for the single version or a housing connecting part being required for the double version.

In another preferred embodiment it is provided that the applicator is arranged at the tip of a plunger which is axially displaceable along a limited distance, the plunger having a threaded section which engages in a corresponding threaded section of the first housing part. By providing such corresponding threaded sections, it can be achieved that, in comparison to the solutions described above, an even stronger relative rotation between the applicator and the storage space occurs when the two housing parts are pulled apart.

It is preferably provided that the threaded section of the plunger is formed by an external thread, which extends only along two mutually opposite circumferential areas, the two threaded sections having such a number of thread turns that a thread engagement is ensured in each relative angle of rotation position. This configuration makes it possible to dispense with the use of expensive and slower-working screw molds in the injection molding production of all individual parts from plastic and to work with a linear mold that can be opened without a rotary movement.

In a further variant it is provided that a guide section is connected to the plunger with an outer, thread-like groove, which is in engagement with an axially fixed wire spiral surrounding the guide section. This solution is practically through the groove on the one hand and through the Wire spiral, on the other hand, a thread engagement is formed. Such an axially fixed wire spiral can be inserted relatively easily, and here, too, demolding problems for forming threads are avoided.

• Fig. 1 einen Längsschnitt durch eine erste Ausfüh­rungsform einer erfindungsgemäßen Vorrichtung,
• Fig. 2 eine teilweise geschnittene Seitenansicht des Applikators und des Stößels bei abgezogenem zweiten Gehäuseteil,
• Fig. 3 einen Längsschnitt durch eine zweite Ausfüh­rungsform mit zwei Applikatoren,
• Fig. 4 einen Schnitt längs der Linie IV-IV in Fig. 1,
• Fig. 5 einen Schnitt längs der Linie V-V in Fig. 1,
• Fig. 6 einen Schnitt längs der Linie VI-VI in Fig. 1,
• Fig. 7 einen Fig. 1 entsprechenden Längsschnitt durch eine Ausführungsform mit zwei korrespondieren­den Gewindeabschnitten,
• Fig. 8 einen Querschnitt durch die entsprechend modi­fizierte Ausgestaltung des Stößels,
• Fig. 9 eine Fig. 8 entsprechende Ansicht des Stößels und
• Fig. 10 einen Schnitt längs der Linie X-X in Fig. 8.

Further features, advantages and details of the invention result from the following description of a preferred embodiment with reference to the drawing. Show

• 1 shows a longitudinal section through a first embodiment of a device according to the invention,
• 2 is a partially sectioned side view of the applicator and the plunger with the second housing part removed,
• 3 shows a longitudinal section through a second embodiment with two applicators,
• 4 shows a section along the line IV-IV in FIG. 1,
• 5 shows a section along the line VV in FIG. 1,
• 6 shows a section along the line VI-VI in FIG. 1,
• 7 shows a longitudinal section corresponding to FIG. 1 through an embodiment with two corresponding threaded sections,
• 8 shows a cross section through the correspondingly modified design of the tappet,
• Fig. 9 is a Fig. 8 corresponding view of the plunger and
• 10 shows a section along the line XX in FIG. 8.

A device shown in Fig. 1 comprises a sleeve-like first housing part 1 made of plastic and also a sleeve-like second housing part 2, which in turn is made of plastic. The second housing part 2 engages over a section 3 of the first housing part 1 with a reduced outside diameter and is axially snapped onto this section 3 of the first housing part 1 by means of an annular groove 4 formed on the second housing part and an annular bead 5 formed on section 3 of the first housing part 1, so that the outer walls of the two housing parts are aligned with one another in this connected state.

In the first housing part 1, an applicator 8 in the form of a porous, sponge-like plastic part is attached to the front end 6 of a plunger 7.

The plunger 7 shown in the side view in FIG. 2 has an externally smooth section 9 following the applicator 8 and subsequently a drill thread 10. The twist thread 10 is formed by an extruded plastic profile which is square in cross section and twisted or twisted around the longitudinal axis.

The rear end of this twist thread section 10 is formed by a transverse wall 11 connected therewith which penetrates the free interior 12 of the first housing part 1.

The axial interior 12 is limited axially in the direction of the applicator by an annular collar 13 and towards the opposite side by an end wall 14, which is formed in the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 1 by a closing part 15 inserted into the first housing part 1. A coil spring 16 is arranged in the space 12, which is supported on the one hand on the end wall 14 and on the other hand on the transverse wall 11 of the plunger and accordingly presses this plunger away in the direction of the second housing part 2.

5, which has a square cross-section, the clear width of which is somewhat larger than that of the square cross-section of the twisted thread section 10. Accordingly, the plunger and, accordingly, the applicator 8 are caused to move in a circle when the drill thread section 10 of the plunger 7 is moved axially through the recess 17 relative to the first housing part 1.

A storage space 18 for a cosmetic 19 is provided in the second housing part 2. When the first housing part 1 and the second housing part 2 are plugged together and locked into one another, the applicator 8 is pressed against the surface 20 of the cosmetic 19 due to the pressure effect of the spring 16. At the Pulling the first and second housing parts apart, the plunger 7 is pressed down under the influence of the compression spring 16, a rotary movement being generated due to the interaction of the twist thread section 10 with the recess 17, so that the applicator 8 cosmetic 19 from the area of the under axial pressure Surface 20 removes. Accordingly, the applicator 8 is well saturated with cosmetic in the application process which is possible after the complete removal of the housing part 2 and in which the housing part 1 acts as a grip sleeve. When the first housing part 1 is subsequently placed on the second housing part 2, pressure is pressed upward between the surface 20 of the cosmetic 19 and the applicator 8 of the plunger 7, with a simultaneous rotational movement of the applicator 8 taking place on the surface 20 and on in this way, cosmetic 19 is already transferred to applicator 8 for the next application process.

The embodiment shown in Fig. 3 works in principle in the same way, with the housing parts 2 and the plunger 7 are identical to those in the embodiment of Fig. 1. In contrast to this, only the first housing part 1 'is not with a closing part 15, but instead a second housing part 2 connects, which surrounds a second plunger 7 and a second applicator 8, accordingly only one compression spring 16 is required, which acts on both plungers 7 simultaneously. This configuration can therefore be largely identical Parts as in Fig. 1 and thus be produced as a cost-effective variant. This variant makes it possible to accommodate different cosmetics 19 in the storage rooms 18, which is very interesting for different possible uses.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 to 10, two sleeve-shaped housing parts 1 ', 2' are provided, the storage space 18 for the cosmetic 19 being accommodated in the housing part 2 '. The two housing parts 1 ', 2' are connected by an intermediate piece 21, which has plug-in sections 22, 23 for plugging in the first housing part 1 'and the second housing part 2'. The first housing part 1 'is permanently attached to the intermediate part 21 so that the latter practically forms part of the first housing part 1'. In contrast, the second housing part 2 'is removed when using the applicator 8' and then replaced.

The plunger 11 'has on its front the applicator 8' or the like made of foam. on, which is inserted into the front end 23 '.

At the rear end of the plunger 11 ', an external thread 24 is formed, which engages in a threaded portion 25 of the intermediate part 21.

A coil spring 16 is supported on the one hand on an annular shoulder 26 inside the plunger 11 'and on the other hand on ribs 27 in the longitudinal recess 28 one on the rear end 29 of the first housing part 1' attached cap 30 from.

When removing the housing part 2 'from the intermediate part 21, the spring 16 pushes the plunger 11' away from the first housing part 1 ', with the engagement of the threaded portions 24 and 25 of the plunger 11' and with it the applicator 8 'relative to a rotary movement is caused to cosmetic 19 in the reservoir 18.

The threaded sections 24, 25 are designed such that the parts carrying these threaded sections can be produced with linearly opening shapes while avoiding screw forms.

For this purpose, it is provided that the threaded section 24 or the individual threads 31 do not extend over 360 °, but only - as shown in FIG. 10 - over two mutually opposite angle ranges α of approximately 90 °. The cut outer edges 32, 33 of circumferential regions lying opposite one another are flush with one another and run parallel to the center line 34 shown in FIG. 10.

Despite the linear demoldability that can be achieved in this way, it should be ensured that the threaded sections 24, 25 are axially engaged in any relative position in order to prevent the spring 16 from pushing out the plunger 11 'when the housing part 2 is removed. This can be done with a preferred off Realize the guide form with a four-start thread, which has a flank angle of 60 ° and a pitch of 10 mm using a trapezoidal profile.

Such a threaded section 24 preferably has four threads. Furthermore, a left-hand thread is advantageously provided so that an involuntary right-hand screw movement occurring when the housing parts 1 'and 2' are pulled apart does not have a reducing effect, i.e. the intended relative movement should add to the screwing movement and should not be reduced by this.

An embodiment with two applicators has been described in connection with FIG. 3. Such an embodiment can also be implemented according to the embodiment according to FIGS. 7 to 10 with two corresponding threaded sections for each individual applicator.

In both cases, a porous foam molded body can be used as the applicator. On the other hand, it is also possible in such a double version to provide an applicator with a powder-like mass for flat application on the one hand and a so-called kohl pencil could be provided on the other hand, i.e. one could paint eyeshadow with one applicator and on the other draw the other side using a contour pencil.

In principle, it is of course also conceivable to design one or both applicators as a brush and to provide appropriate protective devices for this.

Claims (12)

1. Apparatus for applying cosmetics, such as powder, pastes or the like, comprising two sleeve-like housing parts which can be plugged into one another, an applicator being arranged in the first housing part such that this housing part serves as a grip sleeve for the applicator when the other, second housing part withdrawn, the cosmetic to be applied being accommodated in a storage space in the second housing part, and the applicator and the storage space for the cosmetic being pressed against one another by means of a spring in the connected state of the first and second housing parts, characterized in that the applicator (8 ) or the storage space (18) for the cosmetic (19) are rotatably mounted within their respective housing part (1 or 2), and that under the force of the spring (16) when the two housing parts (1 or 2) are removed from each other rotatably mounted applicator (8) or the storage space (18) relative to the fixed n storage space (18) or the applicator (8) is rotated while maintaining the surface contact between the applicator (8) and the cosmetic (19) located in the storage space (18). 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the applicator (8) at the tip of a longitudinal a limited distance in the first housing part (1) axially displaceably mounted plunger (7), the plunger (7) having a twisted thread section (10) which has a corresponding recess (17) in a transverse wall (11) of the first housing section ( 1) passes through, and the plunger (7) is spring-loaded in the direction of the storage space (18). 3. Apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that a compression spring (16) is arranged between a transverse wall (end wall 14) of the first housing part (1) and a transverse wall (11) connected to the tappet (7). 4. The device according to claim 2, characterized in that for the axial limitation of the displacement of the plunger (7) in the first housing part (1) an annular collar (13) is arranged, which with a transverse wall (11) of the plunger (7) as a stop cooperates. 5. The device according to claim 2, characterized in that the drill thread section (10) of the plunger (7) consists of a twisted, longitudinally injected square plastic profile. 6. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the first and second housing part (1 and 2) are made of plastic. 7. The device according to claim 5, characterized in that at least that surrounding the storage space (18) Housing part (2) is partially transparent. 8. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that a reservoir (19) is arranged in a single, common housing in the region of the outer ends of the housing (housing part 2), two plungers (7) provided with applicators (8) from each other are spring-loaded away from each storage space (18) and are arranged so as to be longitudinally displaceable. 9. The device according to claim 8, characterized in that a single compression spring (16) between the rear transverse walls (11) of the two plungers (7) is arranged. 10. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the applicator (8 ') is arranged at the tip of a plunger (11') axially displaceably mounted along a limited distance, the plunger (11 ') having a threaded portion (25), which engages in a corresponding threaded portion (24) of the first housing part (1 ') or in an axially connected intermediate part (21). 11. The device according to claim 10, characterized in that the threaded portion (24) of the plunger (11 ') is formed by an external thread which extends only along two mutually opposite circumferential areas, the two threaded portions (24 and 25) one have such a number of threads that a thread engagement is ensured in every relative angle of rotation. 12. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that a guide section with an outer, thread-like groove is connected to the plunger, which is in engagement with an axially fixed wire spiral surrounding the guide section.

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