EP0619086B1 - Cosmetic box with controlled opening and corresponding compact - Google Patents

Abstract

This is a box comprising a case (4) with its lid (6) with hinge (20, 22), means (14, 30, 58) for controlling the opening of the lid (6), and means (62, 64, 66, 68) for damping the opening movement of the said lid, these means comprising at least one substantially elastically compressible means (62, 64), such as a block of foam and/or a flexing spring, arranged in the box to act during the essential part of the opening travel of the lid by absorbing the energy communicated to the latter in order for it to open. Application, in particular, to powder compacts or make-up boxes. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to the field of housings for cosmetic, make-up, hygiene or care, and more particularly to make-up boxes or powders (or compacts) used in the field of cosmetology by women for powdering or for example to color their cheekbones or eyelids, such housings constituting besides in certain cases of real jewelry items.

Among the particularly known cases in this area, some are fitted with a cover which is articulated in rotation relative to the box of the case following a sort of "damped" movement, that is to say whose opening speed has been adjusted so that this is not carried out too slowly, so as not to annoy the user, or too quickly, so that we can appreciate the general elegance of the case and elements it contains, as well as the graceful effect and elegant that emerges from its manipulation.

However, such means of adjusting the speed are, to the knowledge of the plaintiff, usually constituted to date by systems "to oil bath "incorporating a viscous liquid enclosed in one chamber, the viscosity of the fluid and the adhesion (i.e. the effects of friction), of the parts concerned housing with regard to this fluid allowing adjustment the opening speed of the cover.

However, such viscous fluid systems (which can be in particular constituted by a silicone), can prove not to be stable over time and vary in depending on weather conditions. Furthermore, being given that it is a fluid, we can always fear risk of absconding. Finally, some specialists consider that the use in the present case of a viscous fluid causes implementation difficulties industrial, increases manufacturing costs and multiplies the manipulations that each box must undergo for its manufacture.

US-A-4,483,355 describes a housing provided with a cover which, when unlocked, is suddenly rotated by springs which relax.

• un coffret et son couvercle, le coffret étant propre à contenir ledit produit,
• une charnière d'articulation en rotation du couvercle par rapport au coffret,
• des pièces de verrouillage/ déverrouillage d'un cran de maintien en position fermée du couvercle,
• un premier moyen-ressort comprimé dans ladite position fermée de ce couvercle et dont la détente libérée par le déverrouillage du cran est propre à provoquer l'ouverture brusque du couvercle,
• et des moyens d'amortissement du mouvement dudit couvercle, pour ralentir cette ouverture à l'encontre dudit premier moyen-ressort.

FR-A-2 669 371 describes a case for a cosmetic, make-up, care or hygiene product, comprising:

• a box and its cover, the box being able to contain said product,
• a hinge hinge in rotation of the cover relative to the box,
• locking / unlocking parts of a holding notch in the closed position of the cover,
• a first spring-means compressed in said closed position of this cover and the detent released by the unlocking of the notch is capable of causing the abrupt opening of the cover,
• and means for damping the movement of said cover, to slow this opening against said first spring means.

The object of the invention is to propose a housing which does not not having the aforementioned potential drawbacks and allowing fine adjustment of the speed of opening the cover, whatever the frequency of handling it or the case and practically whatever its conditions usual use.

• un second ressort agissant à l'encontre du premier moyen-ressort, essentiellement pendant une première partie de la course d'ouverture du couvercle,
• et un bloc de mousse compressible qui agit essentiellement pendant une seconde partie finale de la course dudit couvercle, si bien que les moyens d'amortissement sont compressibles sensiblement élastiquement et sont propres à être comprimés ou détendus en fonction respectivement de la détente ou de la compression dudit premier moyen-ressort.

To this end, the invention relates to a housing of the type described in FR-A-2 669 371, characterized in that the damping means comprise:

• a second spring acting against the first spring means, essentially during a first part of the opening stroke of the cover,
• and a block of compressible foam which acts essentially during a second final part of the travel of said cover, so that the damping means are compressible substantially elastically and are suitable for being compressed or relaxed as a function respectively of expansion or compression of said first spring.

So to adjust the opening speed of the cover, we will no longer play on any index of viscosity or on a coefficient of friction, but on the more or less compressible nature of a medium damping, which is elastic compression for regain its compressibility potential every time that the cover is closed.

In practice, the invention further provides, for an even greater comfort of use and an optimum effect control of the opening of the cover, that said depreciation means will work for practically all, or at least most of the opening race of the cover, absorbing, until substantially cancel it at the end of the race, the energy communicated to the cover for opening by its control means associated.

As a means of depreciation, the invention advises the use more particularly of a block synthetic foam, for example PVC or polyurethane impregnated, whose reliability and thermal stability are known, whose cost price is low and whose the ease of both form adaptation and implementation place, even replacement, is large, without risk no dirt from the other parts of the case.

Experience with articulation systems at hinge and in particular of those used in the field of the invention, having shown that it is necessary to graduate from fine adjustment of the speed so that it is suitable for the intended purpose, and in practice either substantially regular throughout the race, we can in the first part of the opening race of the cover use a relatively rigid spring to absorb the sudden acceleration communicated to the cover by its first spring, end-of-travel damping being provided by the foam block which will take over of the second spring while the opening energy will have already significantly reduced, the foam block avoiding all rebound effect at the end of the stroke.

Advantageously, to promote the effect sought, the foam block will be placed near the lid hinge.

Always as part of an embodiment privileged of the invention, the box of the case can enclose a drawer which will be mounted there sliding under the control of the articulation movement in rotation of the cover, the drawer containing at least one of said damping means, advantageously such that said second spring, which will compress or relax in depending on the movement of the drawer, pressing against a fixed enclosure wall.

In this way, we can reliably and with good dynamic efficiency, finely adjust the how the lid will open.

• la figure 1 est une vue en perspective et en éclaté d'un boítier conforme à l'invention, dans son ensemble,
• la figure 2 montre, en vue de détail agrandie, la zone privilégiée d'implantation du bloc de mousse d'amortissement (le bloc en lui-même n'étant pas figuré),
• la figure 3 montre la zone du boítier de la figure 2 avec le bloc de mousse en place, le couvercle étant ici en position de pleine ouverture,
• les figures 4 à 7 montrent, en coupe longitudinale médiane, le même boítier en différentes situations d'ouverture ou de fermeture, plus ou moins complète, de son couvercle,
• et la figure 8 montre en vue partielle de dessus une variante de réalisation du ressort d'amortissement associé au tiroir,

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description made with reference to the appended drawings given solely by way of nonlimiting examples and in which:

• FIG. 1 is a perspective and exploded view of a housing according to the invention, as a whole,
• FIG. 2 shows, in an enlarged detail view, the preferred area for installing the block of damping foam (the block itself is not shown),
• FIG. 3 shows the zone of the housing of FIG. 2 with the foam block in place, the cover here being in the fully open position,
• Figures 4 to 7 show, in median longitudinal section, the same case in different opening or closing situations, more or less complete, of its cover,
• and FIG. 8 shows in partial view from above an alternative embodiment of the damping spring associated with the drawer,

In Figure 1, first of all, we therefore see illustrated a casing 2 for powder and / or eyeshadows, mainly made of plastic, including a case 4 closed by a cover 6.

The cover essentially comprises a block parallelepiped 8 with a bottom 8a and four walls perimeter side 8b inside which comes fit a frame 10 retaining a mirror 12 and provided, on one side (at the front), with a hook or notch 14 of locking in the closed position of the cover and, on the side opposite (at the back), of a fallen wall extension defining a hinge zone 16, of transverse axis 18 with two lateral axial pins 20 adapted for rotate in bearings 22 of a part 24 linked to the cabinet for example by fixing screws 25. This piece 24, which is a fixed part, has a general shape parallelepiped having the overall appearance of a frame coming to fit between the four side walls 26a of basic parallelepiped block 26 at the bottom 26b of the housing 4.

At the front (marked AVT in Figure 1), the box 26 has an opening 28 for engagement with through it pieces 30, 32 forming the pusher locking the hook 14 through the hole 34 of the frame 24, when the cover must be closed, or the unlocking of this same hook when the box must to be open. Inside the room 24, a drawer 36 is mounted movable in translation towards the front or the back of the cabinet. At the front, the drawer 36 has two lugs 38 in which freely engage in rotation two pins 40 extending coaxially substantially parallel to the hinge axis 18, and belonging to a tilting part 42 mounted articulated in rotation about a fixed axis 44 also parallel to the axis 18, via an upper axial bead 46 specific to rotate in bearings such as 48, carried by two opposite side walls of the part 24.

At the rear, the drawer 36 also has two lateral arms extending at right angles, parallel to axis 18, by two wall primers bearing each an upper tongue 50, slightly inclined backwards and intended to come and engage each between two zones of the part 16 forming two guide fingers front 52 and rear 54, respectively (see also Figures 3 and 5).

For the articulation in rotation of the cover, the part 16 presented here, between these lateral zones of guide 52, 54 and its pins 20, a hollow in which comes to engage an insert 56 bearing first of all a first spring 58 wound around a shaft 60 carried by the part 56 and extending parallel to the axis 18, as well as a block of shock absorbing foam 62 for example in polyvinyl chloride with closed cells or polyurethane impregnated with acrylic and whose presence constitutes an important characteristic of the invention.

First of all concerning spring 58, we note that this is a torsion spring, a pin, whose two opposite end portions are supported for one against the rear side wall 26a of the box 26, and for the other against the corresponding finger 52 (see Figures 2, 3 and 5).

Conventionally, the torsion spring 58 thus positioned will tend, as soon as the hook 14 by operating the pusher 30, to relax by communicating its relaxing energy to the cover, thus causing it to open with a certain speed depending on the force of the spring.

The object of the invention is to adjust this lid opening speed.

For this, provision has been made, in this mode of realization, to use two complementary means cushioning, namely: the cushioning foam block 62 as well as a second spring (in this case a spring of bending) 64 intended to be placed inside the drawer 36, bearing at the rear against the transverse wall rear 66 of the drawer and, at the front, against a wall fixed transverse 68 belonging to the framing part 24.

As illustrated in Figures 1 and 4 to 7, the spring 64 can in particular be constituted by a blade metallic folded substantially "in W" so as to be fairly clearly rigid at the start of deformation for release of the notch 14, effectively counteract the relaxation of the first spring 58 and thus communicate only enough low acceleration at the cover at the start of the race, thus ensuring a fortiori an adjustment of its speed which will be able to have the regularity and the relative slowness desired, the relay for the second part of the race being taken by the foam block 62 which, as shown in Figure 4, will advantageously arranged in the immediate vicinity of the hinge area of articulation of the cover, and therefore of its axis of pivoting 18, thus allowing by compression a end-of-travel terminal damping, without increase speed or final rebound, the foam block 62 being housed here in the hollow of an attachment in bucket 70 (see Figures 2 and 3) fixed to the cover to pivot with it, between the fingers 52 and the top of the rear wall 26a of the case against which the foam block is therefore crushed at the end of opening the cover (see figure 3), the block resiliently returning to its original shape, like the spring 64, when the cover is closed.

Now let's take a look at figures 4 to 7 to briefly present the opening operation and when closing the case, it being specified that we have included at 71 the make-up cup housed in room 24.

In Figure 4 first of all, the housing is closed, the notch 14 being engaged. Spring 58 is compressed. Both the foam block 62 and the spring 64 are practically unconstrained.

If you press button 30, you release the notch 14 and the spring 58 relaxes, communicating with the cover acceleration in the direction of its opening (figure 5). The pivoting of the cover around its axis 18 hinge causes simultaneous rotation bars 54 which themselves translate forward the drawer 36, in the direction of arrow 72, thus almost immediately compressing the spring of flexion 64 which almost instantly slows down the speed opening the cover by counteracting the effect of spring 58. From, for example, two-thirds of the lid opening stroke, the damping effect of the spring 64 decreases, replaced by that of foam block 62 (see Figure 6) whose progressive compression will maintain substantially regular opening speed, until the end of the race, where efforts in one direction and in the other then balance out appreciably.

In view of Figures 5 and 6 in particular, we notice that moving in the direction of arrow 72 of drawer 36 tends to cause the tilting upwards, in the direction of arrow 74, of the plate 42 which in this case, wears a brush display 76, this under the thrust of the lugs 38.

To close the case, just the user to bring the cover towards each other and the box, thus freeing from their compression, the block of foam 62 then spring 64, and compressing concomitantly the opening spring 58, via a drive towards the back of drawer 36 through the fingers of control 52 of the cover, the drawer of course with him the plate 42 which returns to its low position at inside the case (figure 7), the operation is ending with the hooking of the notch 14.

Let’s now take a brief look at the illustration of figure 8 which shows a variant of realization of the sliding drawer identified here 36 'and which distinguishes from drawer 36 in that it is integrally molded to him a tongue forming a bending spring 76, two branches substantially constituting an "Ω" by not forming only a central part with the wall rear transverse 66 already cited, so that in start of the drawer 36 'stroke, the ends of the branches 76 come to bear against the still existing wall 68 of the frame 24, thereby counteracting the effect of the spring opening 58 (not shown here) still existing.

Claims (8)

1. Compact for a cosmetic, makeup, beauty care or hygiene product, comprising:

   a case (4) and its lid (6), the case being suitable for containing said product,

   a hinge (20, 22) for rotatably articulating the lid on the case,

   members (20, 32) for locking/unlocking a catch (14) for holding the lid in the closed position,

   first spring means (58) compressed in said closed position of the lid, the relaxing of which, when freed by unlocking the catch, is adapted to cause the lid to open abruptly,

   and means (62, 64; 76) for damping the movement of said lid, in order to slow down this opening action counter to said first spring means,
      characterised in that the damping means comprise:

   a second spring (64; 76) acting counter to said first spring means (58), essentially during a first part of the opening movement of the lid,
      and a compressible foam block (62) which acts essentially during a second final part of the movement of said lid,
      so that the damping means are substantially elastically compressible and are adapted to be compressed or relaxed as a function of the relaxation or compression, respectively, of said first spring means.
2. Compact according to claim 1, characterised in that said damping means (62, 64; 76) are arranged in the compact so as to act progressively during the main part of the opening movement of the lid (6), thereby absorbing the energy communicated to the lid for opening it, by the relaxation of said first spring means (58), to the point of substantially cancelling out this energy at the end of the movement.
3. Compact according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the second spring (64) is arranged inside a drawer (36; 36') whilst also bearing against a fixed wall (68) of the case, said drawer being slidably mounted in the case (4), under the control of the rotational articulating movement of the lid (6).
4. Compact according to claim 3, characterised in that the drawer (36;36') has a first end close to the articulating hinge (16,20,22) of the lid (6) and a second opposite end which incorporates a push button (30) for causing rotation of a pivoting part (42) articulating about a fixed axis substantially parallel to that (18) of the hinge and carried by the case.
5. Compact according to claim 3 or 4, characterised in that the second spring (76) is formed integrally, in one piece, with the drawer (36') and is substantially in the form of a "Ω", in an unstressed state.
6. Compact according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the foam block (62) is located close to the articulating hinge (16,20,22) of the lid.
7. Compact according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterised in that the foam block (62) is located closer to the articulating hinge of the lid than the second spring (64) in order to take over after a first predetermined part of the opening movement of the lid.
8. Powder compact containing a cosmetic powder and consisting of the case according to any of the preceding claims.

Images