EP1665952B9 - Applicator for liquid or pasty media, in particular decorative cosmetics and mascara - Google Patents

Abstract

Applicator has bristles (13) ranging from 5 to 13 in each bristle wreath and behind these bristle wreaths there are 14 to 32 particularly 18 to 26 bristles in axial direction of carrying sleeve. The length (l) of bristles ranges from 1.5 mm to 3 mm and bristle rings at a distance (S1) ranging from 0.6 mm to 1.5mm. The distance (S2) of bristle foot from finger wreath is from 0.2 mm to 0.5 mm. Independent claims are also included for the following: (A) Procedure for the production of mascara applicators; and (B) The use of applicators for applying cosmetics.

Description

The invention relates to an applicator for liquid or pasty media, in particular for decorative cosmetics such as mascara or hair dye, with a rod-shaped, stiffening core, which is occupied at least in the region of its front end with bristles, wherein the stiffening core at least partially from a carrier sleeve of a elastomeric plastic is surrounded, wherein the support sleeve has a plurality of radially outwardly projecting fingers, which are integrally formed on the support sleeve and also made of the elastomeric plastic, wherein the bristles in the longitudinal direction of the support sleeve form a brush, wherein a plurality of the circumference Carrier sleeve distributed fingers form a finger wreath and wherein in the longitudinal direction of the support sleeve a plurality N of finger wreaths with the same number of fingers n are arranged one behind the other.

A corresponding applicator can be used in various fields of application. The following is an example of the application of mascara, the so-called mascara, be assumed, however, the applicator of the invention is to be used in a similar manner, inter alia, for the dyeing of hair strands or for the application of pharmaceuticals.

An applicator for mascara should ensure that the mascara is easy to apply evenly. For this purpose, the applicator must meet the condition that the eyelashes are first combed before applying the mascara and thus aligned in the desired manner. In addition, the applicator should be able to absorb so much mascara that all eyelashes can be wetted with the applicator without having to immerse it several times in the mascara reservoir. In order to apply the mascara evenly and bum-free, it must be ensured that not too much mascara adheres to the applicator, which is why this usually when pulling out of the mascara reservoir is stripped off. Since the applicator is designed as a cantilevered component with an end-side handle, it must have sufficient stability in order to be able to safely absorb the forces acting on use without the risk of a break-off. On the other hand, the applicator must, however, be so flexible that it can be adapted to the curvature of the eyelids and sufficient yield in case of incorrect use, in order to avoid injury to the user in the eye area.

It has long been the state of the art to produce applicators for mascara from a plurality of bristles held between two twisted wire sections, see eg EP 1475013 A1 , Such wire brushes have a number of disadvantages that one attempts to circumvent by using special brush geometries. In the EP 1 344 470 For example, a brush is described whose bristles have a different length.

From the field of oral hygiene anchorless brush manufacturing methods are known in which preformed bristle bundles are encapsulated using injection molding techniques. The DE 44 15 886 A1 describes the manufacture of such a toothbrush. The big advantage of the overmoulding is that the bristles themselves do not have to be made of sprayable materials. Likewise, the gap-free conclusion between shaft and bristle is very beneficial for toiletries. With the help of modern injection molding techniques, it is possible to produce even very small brushes.

Out DE 101 02 219 Applicators are known for liquid or pasty media, in particular for decorative cosmetics such as mascara, which have a rod-shaped, stiffening core of a first plastic material which is surrounded at least in the region of its front end by a support sleeve made of a second plastic material, wherein the carrier sleeve has a plurality of radially outwardly projecting fingers, which are integrally formed on the carrier sleeve and also made of the second plastic material. Several distributed over the circumference of the support sleeve fingers form a finger ring and in the longitudinal direction of the support sleeve a plurality of finger wreaths with the same number of fingers are arranged one behind the other, and form a rotationally symmetrical brush. A major disadvantage of such an applicator brush is that due to the uniform arrangement of the bristles, the applied amount of mascara is always the same. A Variation of Mascaramenge is not sufficiently possible. In particular, since it is considered desirable by consumers, depending on the prevailing at the time of order emotional states, apply at times a lot of mascara or very little mascara.

Based on these known solutions, the invention has for its object to provide an applicator that is optimally adapted to the specific requirements and the subjective needs of consumers and both a variation in the order quantity, an improved combing effect and a good and uniform application of the ensured to be applied medium.

In order to avoid the disadvantages of the fully bristled brush is, according to the DE 199 11 763 an applicator has been developed which combines the advantages of the conventional wire brush with those of a rubber brush.

Such an inventive applicator according to claim 1 has a stiffening, rod-shaped core which is occupied at least in the region of its front end with outwardly projecting bristles which form at least one row of bristles in the longitudinal direction of the support sleeve. On the remaining circumference of the rod-shaped core, in the region of the conventional bristles, an elastomeric plastic jacket in the form of a carrier sleeve is sprayed with radially outwardly projecting, integrally molded fingers, wherein the fingers have a cross-section tapering towards their free end.

Within the meaning of the invention, it is also to apply a two-component or multi-component injection molding process. By this manufacturing process it is achieved that stiffening core and elastomeric plastic jacket connect inextricably.

In the context of the invention, it is to form the stiffening core of twisted wire sections, at the one end of a plurality of bristles conventionally incorporated or clamped or to fix the bristles by extrusion coating in a rod-shaped core of injectable plastic.

According to the invention, it is also possible to overmold a wire-bound brush with a small amount of plastic material in such a way that the metal wires are embedded in the injection-molding material.

It is particularly advantageous if the stiffening core has projections or recesses which lead to a toothing with the elastomeric plastic jacket.

For the purposes of the invention, it is also to connect the stiffening core and the elastomeric plastic jacket using excipients, in particular by using primers, primers, adhesives, resins and solvents.

By combining a brush section of solid bristles and a brush section of elastomeric plastic, it is possible to comb the hair or eyelashes before and after wetting with a substrate and to apply much or little mascara depending on which brush sections are used for application. The brush part, which is made of solid bristles, is used to apply larger amounts of mascara and the elastomeric brush area is used to wipe off excess mascara or apply small amounts of mascara.

Especially with mascara users with blond eyelashes a strong coloring of the outer eyelash hairs is necessary, since these are not otherwise brought to bear in the blond type.

The number of bristles forming the conventional brush is selected according to the invention between 300 and 700, wherein the bristles may have different diameters or flexibility.

According to the invention is also to arrange the bristles in a multifilament group. It is advantageous that the groups of bristles have a non-circular cross-section. In particular, the tuft may have a cross section in the form of a crescent, an oval or cross-shaped cross section. It is especially advantageous if the individual multifilament bristle group has a cross-sectional area which is not homogeneously occupied by bristles. In illustration 1 some advantageous cross-sections of multifilament bristle groups are shown schematically. The encapsulation of preformed bristle tufts allows almost any geometry to be created. It is also at the Umspritzungsmethode possible to arrange the bristles or bristle tufts in different directions to each other. Also, the symmetrical or asymmetrical arrangement of two or more multifilament bristle groups is possible according to the invention.

For the purposes of the invention, the conventional brush can be equipped with bristles of all conceivable materials. Particularly advantageous are plastic bristles, e.g. Nylon, polyethylene, polypropylene or polyamide.

According to the invention is also that the individual bristles have a non-circular cross-section. The bristles may have cross-sections whose shape is selected from the group of circular, annular, polygonal, cruciform, rectangular, multi-lobed, U, C or V-shaped shapes, or at least one capillary groove. Structured or rough bristle surfaces can achieve high substrate absorption rates of the brush. The free end of the bristles may also be formed in a tapered or thickened form, which has been achieved, for example, by grinding, carding and / or flaming.

The bristles of the brush according to the invention may have different colors, in particular bristles of different material may also have different colors.

The number of bristles per multifilament group is limited by the cross-sections of the bristles. Brushes according to the invention have a number of bristles of 5 to 100 bristles per mm ² of the area covered by the multifilament group.

The arrangement of the brush areas can be such that only a conventional brush area or two opposite conventional brush areas arise. If two conventional brush areas are present, they are separated from one another by the brush areas of rubber-elastic material.

The conventional brush can z. B. by trimming, grinding and / or heat treatment in the form, z. B. to adapt them to the shape of the application site, in particular the adaptation of the brush contour to the contour of the eyelid is advantageous.

According to the invention, it is also the free bristle ends of the conventional brush rounded form, so as to reduce the injury potential.

The bristles of the conventional brush portion may be arranged to form bristle groups. These bristle groups can be at an angle to each other and / or intersect.

All finger rings of the rubber brush should have the same number of fingers, which are preferably equally distributed over the circumference of the carrier sleeve, d. H. have the same mutual angular distance. The number n of fingers per finger wreath lies in the applicator according to the invention between 5 and 13, wherein in particular an odd number n of the fingers (5, 7, 9, 11 or 13 fingers) should be provided.

While the number n of fingers per finger wreath determines the arrangement density of the fingers in the circumferential direction, the arrangement density of the fingers in the longitudinal direction of the carrier sleeve and thus of the applicator is determined by the number N of axially successive finger rings. The distance between adjacent finger wreaths should be within a predetermined range and also should not be provided too many finger wreaths so as not to complicate the handling of the applicator and to achieve even with relatively small eyelashes still a good mascara order. According to the invention, it is therefore provided that the applicator has between 14 and 32 finger rings and in particular between 18 and 26 finger rings.

The fingers of all finger rings can be designed with the same dimensions. However, it has proven to be advantageous to form finger rings with fingers of reduced dimensions both at the front and at the rear end of the applicator. Although these finger rings of smaller fingers are counted in the number N of finger rings, the following remarks refer to the fingers of a midrange normal finger ring. It is provided that the length I of the fingers, ie the extent to which the finger protrudes in the radial direction from the carrier sleeve, is in the range of 1.5 mm to 3.0 mm.

Also, the mutual distance s ₁ adjacent finger wreaths is a measure that significantly affects the combing effect and the mascara application. The distance s ₁ measured between the free ends of similar fingers of adjacent finger rings should, according to the invention, be in the range of 0.6 mm to 1.5 mm.

In the area of the feet of the fingers, ie in the connection region of the fingers to the carrier sleeve, the fingers of adjacent finger rings should have a clear distance s _{2 of} the order of 0.2 mm to 0.5 mm.

The applicator has a substantially circular cylindrical configuration, i. an envelope surface of the applicator has a circular cross-section, which is either constant over the entire length of the finger field or is reduced only in its end regions in the aforementioned manner. For the practical handling of the applicator, it has proven to be useful if this has an outer diameter D in the range of 6.0 mm to 10.0 mm and in particular from 7.5 mm to 8.5 mm.

The stiffening, rod-shaped core preferably has a circular cross-section whose diameter is in the range of 1.5 mm to 2.5 mm and in particular 1.9 mm to 2.1 mm. The core may have a constant cross-section over its entire length, but it is preferably provided that the core tapers at its front end.

The rod-shaped core may be straight, but alternatively it is also possible to make the core curved, in which case a "banana shape", i. a continuous equidirectional curvature is preferred.

The wall thickness a of the carrier sleeve essentially determines the elastic storage of the fingers and thus their deformability. In the region in which the core has a constant cross section, the radial wall thickness a of the carrier sleeve should be in the range of 0.3 mm to 1.0 mm and in particular 0.5 mm to 0.7 mm. If the core tapers at its front end, the wall thickness a of the carrier sleeve in this area is correspondingly increased, so that the outer contour of the carrier sleeve is substantially circular cylindrical.

The total axial length L of the carrier sleeve should be in the range of 20.0 mm to 35.0 mm and in particular 24.0 mm to 26.0 mm.

The applicator is produced by encapsulation of a rod-shaped core, wherein the core is occupied at least in the region of its front end with bristles which form a brush in the longitudinal direction of the core and the encapsulation takes place to form the carrier sleeve and the fingers with an elastomeric plastic material.

According to the invention, it may be provided to form the front region of the applicator with increased flexibility. This can be achieved in that the carrier sleeve with its front end portion by the dimension v protrudes beyond the front end of the core, so that the front end portion of the applicator is formed entirely of the elastomeric plastic material. The dimension v may be in the range of 1.0 mm to 8.0 mm and is preferably 2.5 mm to 4.5 mm.

In the simplest geometric configuration, the fingers of each finger ring lie with their central axes in a common plane extending perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the applicator, so that no offset of individual fingers in the longitudinal direction of the carrier sleeve or of the applicator is provided. Alternatively, however, it is also possible for at least one finger of a finger wreath to be offset from the other fingers of the finger wreath by the amount v _F in the longitudinal direction of the carrier sleeve. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that every second finger of the finger ring is arranged offset, so that the fingers of a finger ring in two parallel, spaced in the longitudinal direction of the support sleeve, are perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the support sleeve extending planes. The offset amount v _F is preferably given as a multiple of the foot diameter d _{F of} the fingers to v _F = fxd _F , where f is a factor in the range of 0 (no offset) to 1.5 (maximum offset).

In addition to an offset of individual fingers within a finger ring, adjacent finger rings relative to each other in the circumferential direction can be arranged offset by an angle α, where α should be between 0 ° and 10 °. If α = 0 ° and thus there is no angular offset, the tips of similar fingers of the finger beads lie on a straight line extending in the longitudinal direction of the applicator. If there is an angular misalignment between adjacent fingerrigs, then arranged the tips of similar fingers of the finger wreaths on a revolving spiral line.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that each finger is conical and has a foot diameter d _F in the range of 0.4 mm to 1.0 mm and in particular from 0.65 mm to 0.70 mm. The fingers are preferably rounded at their free end, wherein a radius R of the rounding is in the range of 0.02 mm and 0.2 mm and in particular 0.04 mm to 0.08 mm.

Further details and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the drawings.

1. I. n = 2x 5
2. II. N = 26
3. III. I = 2,4 mm
4. IV. s₁ = 0,95 mm
5. V. s₂ = 0,25 mm

mit zwei Reihen a 2x 13 zueinander V-förmig angeordneter BorstengruppenIn a first exemplary embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the applicator has the following parameter combination ( FIG. 1 ):

1. I. n = 2x 5
2. II. N = 26
3. III. I = 2.4 mm
4. IV. S ₁ = 0.95 mm
5. V. s ₂ = 0.25 mm

with two rows of a 2x 13 bristle groups arranged in a V-shape relative to one another

1. I. n = 11
2. II. N = 22
3. III. I = 2,4 mm
4. IV. s₁ = 1,2 mm
5. V. s₂ = 0,42 mm

mit einer Reihe aus 500 parallel angeordneten BorstenIn a further possible embodiment, it is provided that the parameters in combination assume the following values ( FIG. 5 ):

1. I. n = 11
2. II. N = 22
3. III. I = 2.4 mm
4. IV. S ₁ = 1.2 mm
5. V. s ₂ = 0.42 mm

with a row of 500 parallel bristles

Figur 1

eine Seitenansicht eines Applikators mit zwei Reihen a 2x 13 zueinander V-förmig angeordneter Borstengruppen gemäß einem grundsätzlichen Aufbau,

Figur 2

eine Aufsicht auf die Spitze A des Applikators gemäß Fig. 1,

Figur 3

eine Seitenansicht des aussteifenden Kerns mit einer Anzahl von kammartig angeordneten Zinken,

Figur 4

den Schnitt VI-VI in Fig. 2,

Figur 5

eine Seitenansicht eines Applikators mit einer Reihe aus 500 parallel angeordneten Borsten gemäß einem grundsätzlichen Aufbau

Show it:

FIG. 1

a side view of an applicator with two rows a 2x 13 each other V-shaped arranged bristle groups according to a basic structure,

FIG. 2

a plan view of the tip A of the applicator according to Fig. 1 .

FIG. 3

a side view of the stiffening core with a number of comb-like prongs,

FIG. 4

the section VI-VI in Fig. 2 .

FIG. 5

a side view of an applicator with a series of 500 parallel bristles according to a basic structure

The Fig. 1 to 3 show an applicator 10 basic structure based on which in conjunction with Fig. 4 the individual parameters should be explained.

The applicator 10 has a rod-shaped, stiffening core 11 with a number of bristle bundles 15. The core 11 consists of two twisted wires ( FIG. 3 ).

On the rod-shaped core 11, a carrier sleeve 12 is injection-molded from an elastomeric plastic, which is firmly connected to the core 11 in a second production step. The outer contour of the carrier sleeve 12 is almost circular cylindrical and pierced only in the region of the bristles. The carrier sleeve 12 protrudes with a front end portion 12 b by the dimension v (see Fig. 1 ) beyond the front end of the core 11 so that the front end portion is partially formed of the elastomeric plastic material.

On the outside of the support sleeve 12 radially outwardly projecting, conically tapering towards its free end fingers 13 are integrally formed, which also consist of the elastomeric second plastic material. The fingers 13 are arranged in the form of a total of N finger rings K ₁ , K ₂ , ... K ₂₅ , K ₂₆ , which are arranged one behind the other in the longitudinal direction of the support sleeve 12 at the same distance. Every finger ring K _i (see Fig. 2 ) comprises a certain number n of fingers 13, each of which lies in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the support sleeve 12 extending plane VI, of which in Fig. 2 only one is indicated, and are equally distributed over the circumference of the support sleeve 12 at the same angular distance. at in the Fig. 1 to 2 illustrated embodiment, a total of N = 26 finger rings are provided, all n = 10 (2 areas a 5 fingers) fingers 13 include. The arrangement and design of the fingers 13 is identical in the finger wreaths.

As Fig. 1 shows, the carrier sleeve 12 has an overall length L, wherein the core 11 protrudes from the carrier sleeve 12 at its rear end.

As Fig. 2 shows, the fingers 13 of any finger ring K _{i can} lie with their tips on a perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the support sleeve 12 extending plane VI, the planes of adjacent finger beads have a constant mutual distance.

Fig. 4 shows the geometric relationships in the central region of the applicator 10. The core 11 has an outer diameter d in its section of constant circular cross-section and is surrounded by the support sleeve 12 with a wall thickness a. The support sleeve 12 carries on the outside the cantilevered outwardly, conical, that is conically tapered to the free end fingers 13, which have a radial length I. The total diameter D of an envelope surface of the applicator thus results in: $$\mathrm{D}=\mathrm{d}+2\mathrm{a}+2\mathrm{l},$$

The associated fingers 13 adjacent finger wreaths have at their free ends a mutual distance s ₁ , while between the finger feet associated fingers adjacent finger wreaths a clear distance s ₂ , as shown in Fig. 6. The fingers 13 have the shape of a circular cone, wherein the base or pad of the finger has a diameter d _F. The fingers are rounded at their outer free end with a radius R.

In FIG. 5 an applicator 20 is shown, in contrast to the applicator off FIG. 1 only a number of conventional bristles 25 has. The rod-shaped core 21 consists of a plastic material in which the bristles are fixed by extrusion coating. At its rear end, the core 21 carries connecting elements 21 b for attachment to a receiving part, not shown. In a second injection molding step, the carrier sleeve 22 was sprayed with the fingers 23.

Claims (19)

1. Applicator for liquid or pasty media, in particular for decorative cosmetics such as mascara, having a rod-shaped stiffening core (11) which is covered with bristles protruding to the outside at least in the region of its front end, wherein the stiffening core is at least partially enclosed by a carrier sleeve (12) which consists of an elastomeric plastics material and has a plurality of radially outwardly projecting fingers (13), which are integrally moulded onto the carrier sleeve (12) and consist of an elastomeric plastics material, wherein the bristles form at least one bristle row in the longitudinal direction of the carrier sleeve, wherein a plurality of fingers (13) distributed over the circumference of the carrier sleeve (12) form a finger ring (K₁, K₂, K₃,...), and wherein a plurality N of finger rings (K₁, K₂, K₃,...) with the same number n of fingers are arranged one behind the other in the longitudinal direction of the carrier sleeve (12), characterised by the following combination of parameters:

   I. number n of fingers (13) per finger ring (K₁, K₂, K₃,...): 5 to 13,

   II. number N of finger rings (K₁, K₂, K₃,...) located one behind the other in the axial direction of the carrier sleeve: 14 ≤ N ≤ 32, in particular 18 ≤ N ≤ 26,

   III. length l of the fingers (13): 1.5 mm ≤ I ≤ 3.0 mm,

   IV. spacing s₁ between the free ends of identical fingers (13) of adjacent finger rings (K₁, K₂, K₃,...): 0.6 mm ≤ s₁ ≤ 1.5 mm and

   V. spacing s₂ between the feet of identical fingers (13) of adjacent finger rings (K₁, K₂, K₃,...): 0.2 mm ≤ s₂ ≤ 0.5 mm.
2. Applicator according to claim 1, characterised in that the number of bristles is between 300 and 700.
3. Applicator according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the applicator comprises two opposite bristle rows.
4. Applicator according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the bristles are arranged in groups and the number of bristles per multifile group is between 5 and 100 bristles.
5. Applicator according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the number N of finger rings (K₁, K₂, K₃,...) located one behind the other in the axial direction of the carrier sleeve is equal to the number of bristle groups.
6. Applicator according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the fingers (13) of the finger ring (K₁, K₂, K₃,...) are distributed equally over the circumference of the carrier sleeve (12).
7. Applicator according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the stiffening core is formed from wires twisted together.
8. Applicator according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the bristles have a cross section that deviates from the shape of a circle.
9. Applicator according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the bristles are fixed in the stiffening core by injection overmoulding.
10. Applicator according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the applicator has an external diameter D in the range from 6.0 mm to 10.0 mm.
11. Applicator according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the external diameter d of the core (11) is in the range from 1.5 mm to 2.5 mm.
12. Applicator according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the carrier sleeve (12) has an axial length L in the range from 20.0 mm to 35.0 mm.
13. Applicator according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterised in that at least one finger of a finger ring is disposed offset in relation to the other fingers of the finger ring by the extent v_F in the longitudinal direction of the carrier sleeve (12).
14. Applicator according to claim 13, characterised in that every second finger of the finger ring is disposed offset.
15. Applicator according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterised in that adjacent finger rings (K₁, K₂, K₃,...) are offset in relation to one another by an angle α in the circumferential direction, where : 0 ° ≤ α ≤ 10 °.
16. Applicator according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the fingers (13) are designed in the form of cones or pyramids and are rounded at their free end.
17. Applicator according to claim 16, characterised in that a radius R of the rounded portion is in the range from 0.02 mm to 0.2 mm.
18. Method for producing a mascara applicator according to at least one of the preceding claims, wherein a rod-shaped core, which is produced in a first step and covered with a plurality of bristles, is overmoulded in a second working step in the area of the bristles with a carrier sleeve, a plurality of fingers being integrally moulded onto the carrier sleeve.
19. Use of an applicator according to at least one of the preceding claims for the application of make-up products, hair dyes, cosmetic preparations or pharmaceutical preparations, in particular mascara.

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