EP1279616A1

EP1279616A1 - Applicator

Info

Publication number: EP1279616A1
Application number: EP01118180A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Kwang-Ho You
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-07-27
Filing date: 2001-07-27
Publication date: 2003-01-29

Abstract

A handy applicator (100) usable to restore flaws in paintings or erroneous letters, designs so on is described. This invention allows the coating liquid in a container body (110) to be supplied to either brush (140) or pen (130) provided at opposite ends of a detachable lid (120) so that rapid and convenient correction may be possible.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a handy applicator usable for restoring flaws on a car body, correcting characters so on and more particularly a handy applicator equipped with a brush and a pen to use selectively depending on the need.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Generally it is widely known to use a correcting liquid in restoring to the original state flaws on painted area, incorrect letters and the like by coating with coating liquid. One of those applicators is shown in Figure 1.
A conventional applicator 10 shown in Figure 1 is equipped with a main container body 12. The container main body 12 substantially consists of empty cylinder and is formed with an clamping section 16 near the top opening 14. The clamping section 16 is adapted to engage with a lid 18 which may be connected or disconnected according to a need. The lid 18 is formed on its inner surface with threads (not shown) corresponding to the clamping section 16. From the lid 18 downward there extends a long protruding section 20 which is provided with a brush 22 on its bottom end.
Due to such a construction, the applicator was kept with the protruding section 20 in the main body and with the clamping section 16 fit in the lid 18, when not in use. On the other hand, when put to service, the applicator is opened by means of the lid 18, which is held by one hand of a user to apply the coating liquid loaded on the brush 22 on a required surface, while the container body 12 is held by the other hand of the user.
Thus, in such a case of neatly correcting a flaw on a car, characters or the like by using a conventional applicator, the lid 18 must be removed from the container main body 12 beforehand. However, there is a drawback with this applicator in that a risk of spilling the coating liquid contained in the container body 12 exists with this container opened and the consumption of the coating liquid itself is accelerated because of ready evaporation of the volatile solvent or thinner component of the correction liquid in the container body 12 now being open.
To resolve the problem as described above there was recently developed an improved applicator which is provided with a pen in form of a needle on the lid so that it can be used in correcting flaws or the like without a need of removing the lid from the main container thanks to the coating liquid effluent from the pen. This type of applicator has a convenience in correcting small letters or a few restricted letters but has an inconvenience and long delay in restoring a wide range of flaws or in correcting a numbers of letters or pictures.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Thus, the object of the present invention is to provide a handy applicator which is improved in convenience by allowing optional use of either a brush or pen depending on the area to be corrected.
The above object is achieved according to the invention by a handy applicator having a coating liquid for restoring flaws or correcting characters, pictures and the like, which comprises: a container body for holding a coating liquid; a lid adapted to detachably engage with the opening of the container body and formed with a pointed projection and with a coating liquid discharging hole, said coating liquid discharging hole being formed substantially along the pointed projection and being in fluidic communication with said opening; and a brush section consisting of an extending rod extending lengthily from one side of the lid and capable of being lead in and out from the coating liquid contained in the container body through said opening and a bundle of hair provided at the free end of the extending rod.
According to an aspect of the invention, it is preferably provided that inside the discharging hole, there are provided a hollow body having a hole in communication with the discharging hole, a pin provided inside the hollow body, normally protrudirig to the outside and capable of opening or closing said opening of the container body depending on the axial location of the pin and a spring for elastically supporting said pin.
According to a further aspect of the invention, it is preferably provided that inside the discharging hole, there are provided a hollow body having a hole in communication with the discharging hole and a pen section having a outwardly protruding part, said outwardly protruding part including a rotatable ball .
Preferably, according to another aspect of the invention, on the top end of the extending rod, there is integrally formed a fixing part having a cylindrical form to be securely fixed to the inner surface of the lid and formed with holes to be in communication with said discharging hole, said opening being engaged with a packing in substantially hollow cylindrical form and formed, at its top circumference, with a annular hanging jaw.
Preferably, according to still other aspect of the invention, a cover adaptable to detachably engage the lid and formed, on its outer surface, with a clip is further included.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 shows a conventional applicator,
Figure 2 shows the perspective view of a handy applicator according to the present invention,
Figure 3 shows the exploded perspective view of a handy applicator according to the present invention,
Figure 4 shows the view of an applicator according to the invention in cross section along the line I - I in Figure 2,
Figure 5 shows the enlarged view of that assembly of a lid, brush and pen taken from Figure 4 and
Figure 6 shows another embodiment of the assembly corresponding to Figure 5.
Figure 7 shows another embodiment of a handy applicator according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Preferable embodiments of the invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
As shown in Figures 2 to 5, a handy applicator 100 according to the invention has a container main body 110 which is adapted to contain a coating liquid and which is formed with a small opening 112 on the top part. As the coating liquid, paint, correction liquid or the like may be used.
The container main body 110 is preferably formed of a plastic with elastic characteristic so that it may be easily compressed by a hand. The top part or neck part of the container body is formed to have a circular cross section smaller relative to the major lower part and is provided with a clamping section 114 which has a thread 115 formed on its outer surface, so that a lid 120 can be easily engaged, as seen in the drawings. In the case that the container main body 110 has an elliptical cross section as depicted, a depression part 118 is preferably formed on the wall of the container body on one side in the direction of the long axis, as also shown in Figure 3. When the depression part 118 is pressed down, the inside volume of the container body 110 is increased so as to suck in the outside air. When the pressing state is then released, with the applicator now closed, the pressure inside the container gets increased as the inside volume decreases.
Thus, when one wishes to coat by using the pen or tip 130, the coating liquid can be discharged smoothly without a need to forcefully press the container body on its flat side due to the high inner pressure. The opening 112 of the container main body 110 is provided with a packing 119 for leak-proof purpose. The packing 119 is in the form of generally hollow cylinder and is formed, on its top area, with a hanging jaw 119. As a matter of course, when the joining parts of the container main body 110 and the lid 120 are formed so fittingly as to realize a liquid-tight sealing, this packing may not be needed. The container body 110 may be formed on its bottom face with a circular groove 111 as a custodial means to securely insert a cover 150 during work.
A lid 120 which is a part detachably engaged with the clamping section 114 near the opening 112 of the container is formed with a thread 122 on the inner surface and provided with a pointed projection 124 on one side. The projection 124 is formed inside with a coating liquid discharging hole 126 which comes in communication with the opening 112 when assembled.
As depicted in the drawings, the lid 120 is combined with a brush 140. The manner of combination of the brush is shown in Figure 5. The brush 140 consists of a long rod 142 extending downward and a bundle of hair 144 provided on the lower end of the rod 142. The extending rod 142 is integrally formed, on its top, with a fixing part 146 in substantially cylindrical form, which is securely fixed against the inner surface of the lid 120 and which is formed with one hole 145 on at least one side. The brush 140 may be fixed on the lid 120 by some other means, if only the coating fluid contained in the container can be discharged toward the discharging hole 126 under the state of the brush 140 joined with the lid 120. In connection with this issue, a further description will be given later with reference to Figure 6.
The applicator 100 according to the invention is additionally equipped with a pen assembly 130, which is combined with the discharging hole 126. This pen assembly 130 is constructed such that the coating liquid in the container can be discharged in response to the need. This pen assembly 130 may be dispensed with, if the end of the discharging hole 126 can be made so small that it may be fully blocked when the cover 150 covers on it and a correction work with pen can be conducted as such. This alternative is however not advisable. The pen assembly 130 comprises a hollow body 132 having a hole 131, a pin 134 provided within the hollow body 132, capable of projecting outside, with its end portion and capable of opening or closing the outer end of the hole 131 depending on the moving position of the pin and a spring 136 elastically supporting the pin, as seen in Figure 5, whereby the discharging rate of the coating liquid is adjusted.
The applicator 100 is provided further with a cover 150. The cover 150 is placed over the lid 120 and functions to protect the pen assembly 130 and to prevent any leaked liquid from transferring to unwanted places and staining them. Preferably, the cover 150 is, at a place of the outer surface, formed with a clip 152 to provide convenience of carrying.
In using a handy applicator 100 according to the invention, as shown in Figures 2 to 5, a correction of a relatively large extent, for example, characters or pictures on paper is conducted by using the brush 140 after opening the lid 120 to expedite the job. In that case, as the coating liquid, a correction liquid is used.
In contrast, when the area for correction is small or narrow, for example, one or two letters on a paper sheet, or a narrow flaw of small area on a car body, the use of the pen 130 is more reasonable because the effective and precise coating is possible without soiling the neighboring areas. When one wishes to coat on a small area for correction, he may first cause the end of the pen assembly 130 to touch the desired position while holding the container main body 110 by his hand and press down, whereby the. pin 134 on the end of the pen assembly 130 is pushed up. Accordingly, the opening 131 which has been closed by one side of the pin 134 is now opened, so that the liquid in the container 110 can flow out to make precise correction. Once the handy applicator 100 is removed from the surface of the area for correction after completion of coating work, the pin 134 is pushed out again by the elastic force of the spring 136, whereby one side of the pin 134 fully closes the outer side of the opening 131 to prevent further discharge of the coating liquid. The coating liquid used to restore or correct flaws on a car or the like may be a coating material like a paint, different from the material used in correcting characters or the like.
The handy applicators 100 according to the invention may hold various kinds of coating materials, so that the users can chose from the finished products of applicators containing coating liquids depending on their desired use.
Figure 6 shows the cross section of another example of a lid 12 carrying a brush 140 and a pen 130.
As shown, the lid 120 is provided with a brush 140 composed of a long extending rod 142 and a bundle of hair 144 disposed at the bottom end of the rod 142. The extending rod 142 exhibits desirably the shape of a hollow pipe and is provided with a hole 145a on one longitudinal side so that the coating liquid can be easily supplied toward the discharging hole 126 when the container 110 is turned upside down. A inner protrusion 123 of the lid 120 is also formed on its side with a hole 123a of corresponding form in alignment with the hole 145a. As the case may be, only one of both the inner protrusion 123 and the extending rod 142 can be formed with the hole depending on the relative location of the extending rod 142 and the inner protrusion 123, because only a supply of coating liquid to the discharging hole 126 needs to be fulfilled. Specifically, when the extent of the connection of the extending rod 142 relative to the inner protrusion 123 is short, the extending rod 142 has not to be hollow and the hole 123a may be formed only on the inner protrusion. And when the extending rod 142 has the form of hollow pipe and is formed with the hole 145a below the protrusion 123, the protrusion 123 may not be formed with the channel hole 123a.
The protuberance 124 of the lid 120 is formed in its upper top area with spouting port 126 in which a pen 130 is fitted. It is understood that in Figure 6 a ball 134a replaces the combination of the pin 134 and spring 136 described earlier in the firs embodiment with reference with Figure 5, so that the ball 134a may assume the same function of adjusting the rate of the liquid flowing out of the inside of the container 110 in response to the requirement in a correction operation.
Figure 7 shows another embodiment of a handy applicator according to the present invention. A handy applicator 200 of the present embodiment is composed of a container body 210 for holding a coating liquid, the lid 220 with a pen assembly 230 and the blush 240. And the outside shape or a shape of the cover 250 put a the said lid 220 is different from one embodiment of the said Fig.2∼Fig.5. A concrete explanation of the other inner constitute or an action was omitted because it is the same with the said one embodiment.
As described above, the present invention permits a free selection of a brush or a pen depending on the extent of area to be coated so that the efficient and convenient correction may be conducted. In comparison with the case of using only a brush, the frequency of opening the lid can be decreased to decrease the vaporization loss of the thinner or solvent included in the coating liquid. A precise correction of narrow area by means of a pen and a rapid correction of wide area by means of a brush can be both achieved.
It is to be understood that, while the invention was described mainly with respect to a few preferable specific embodiments, the invention is never restricted to those embodiments and a variety of modifications and alterations would be possible to a man skilled in the art by referring to the description or drawings presented here and within the spirit of the invention and thus those modifications or alterations are to fall within the scope of the invention, which scope should be limited only by the attached claims.

Claims

A handy applicator having a coating liquid for restoring flaws or correcting characters, pictures and the like, which comprises:
a container body for holding a coating liquid;

a lid adapted to detachably engage with the opening of the container body and formed with a pointed projection and with a coating liquid discharging hole, said coating liquid discharging hole being formed substantially along the pointed projection and being in fluidic communication with said opening; and

a brush section consisting of an extending rod extending lengthily from one side of the lid and capable of being lead in and out from the coating liquid contained in the container body through said opening and a bundle of hair provided at the free end of the extending rod.
The handy applicator according to Claim 1, wherein inside the discharging hole, there are provided a hollow body having a hole in communication with the discharging hole, a pin provided inside the hollow body, normally protruding to the outside and capable of opening or closing said opening of the container body depending on the axial location of the pin and a spring for elastically supporting said pin.
The handy applicator according to Claim 1, wherein inside the discharging hole, there are provided a hollow body having a hole in communication with the discharging hole and a pen section having a outwardly protruding part, said outwardly protruding part including a rotatable ball.
The handy applicator according to Claim 1, wherein on the top end of the extending rod, there is integrally formed a fixing part having a cylindrical form to be securely fixed to the inner surface of the lid and formed with holes to be in communication with said discharging hole, said opening being engaged with a packing in substantially hollow cylindrical form and formed, at its top circumference, with a anular hanging jaw.
The handy applicator according to Claim 1, wherein a cover adaptable to detachably engage the lid and formed, on its outer surface, with a clip is further included.