EP2229840A1 - Applicator for applying a cosmetic, make-up or skincare product, and method for manufacturing same - Google Patents

Abstract

The applicator (3) has an application member (8) e.g. brush, provided at an end of stem (5), where the member has varying profile. The member has a metallic twisted core, and projecting elements e.g. bristles, extending from the core. The member has a spiraled encased surface portion of flattened transverse section, where the portion has large transverse dimension ranging between 8 and 16 mm and thickness ranging between 2 and 6.5 mm. Main axes of proximal and distal transverse sections of the portion are angularly shifted around a longitudinal axis of the core at less than 90 degrees. An independent claim is also included for a method for manufacturing a brush.

Description

The present invention relates to an applicator for applying a cosmetic, makeup or care product, for example mascara, to the eyelashes and / or eyebrows, as well as a packaging and application device comprising such an applicator.

The invention also relates to a method of manufacturing such an applicator.

The mascara is usually removed by means of a brush mounted at the end of a stem in a container which is provided with a wiper member to remove the excess mascara present on the stem and on the stem. brush. This wiper member comprises for example a lip made of an elastomeric material, defining a wick of circular section, whose diameter substantially corresponds to that of the rod.

There are flat brushes whose curling power is limited by straight edges. On the other hand, the passage of the wiper member, the product is smoothed all along the brush in the same way, which gives a brush with mascara impregnated faces in the same way, without privileged areas.

There are also applicators with brushes having helical edges.

Requirement GB 2,170,996 describes a mascara brush having at least three rows of short hairs and three rows of long hairs, the rows being longitudinal or spiral.

In the patent application FR 2 913 572 , the bristles of the applicator are arranged in helical rows, the bristles being centered on the corresponding faces of a central core.

Requirement WO 2001/41599 describes a brush blank machined to create helical grooves.

US 5,551,456 discloses a method of making a helical brush whose cross section rotates between 90 ° and 360 °.

US 5,335,465 also discloses a twisted applicator whose angular offset between the cross sections is between a quarter turn and a turn.

US 5,595,198 discloses a mascara applicator having an angular offset of between 180 ° and 400 °.

There is a need to further improve the applicators for the application of a product on keratinous fibers, in particular to confer on the organ progressive bending power and to favor the creation of more product-laden areas.

The invention aims in particular to meet this need.

According to one of its aspects, the subject of the invention is an applicator comprising a rod and an applicator member at the end of this rod, the applicator member comprising projecting elements extending from a core, the applicator member comprising a twisted portion of flattened cross section, of greater transverse dimension preferably between 8 and 16 mm.

The largest transverse dimension may in particular be greater than 9 mm and the thickness of the twisted portion of the brush may be between 2 and 6.5 mm.

The largest transverse dimension may be encountered at a distance from the proximal and / or distal ends greater than ¼ of the total length of the portion of the applicator member for application, for example the portion carrying bristles in the case of a twisted core brush.

The major axes of the proximal and distal cross sections of the twisted portion may be angularly offset, preferably less than a quarter turn.

The container containing the product to be applied may comprise a wiper member defining a wiper orifice traversed by the applicator member when it is extracted from the container, the diameter of the wiper orifice being preferably included between 2.5 and 5.5 mm.

The application member according to the invention makes it possible to obtain a satisfactory makeup, thanks to the fact that it has a profile that varies when it is rotated about the longitudinal axis of the rod.

The twisted portion has an angular offset between its distal and proximal ends which may be relatively small. By "angular offset" is meant the angle at which the major axis of the cross-section between said ends rotates. This angular offset may be approximately equal to the angle at which the user rotates the applicator on itself at the time of makeup. Due to this slight offset, the application member, by a slight pivoting of the hand, can gradually raise the eyelash fringe in a natural way.

The angular offset between the distal end and the proximal end of the twisted part may be between 20 ° and 80 °, better be less than 35 °, even better be between 25 ° and 35 °, or even be 30 °.

The twisted portion may extend over at least half the length of the applicator member, more preferably at least three quarters, or over substantially its entire length. The twisted portion can thus extend over a length of between 20 and 35 mm, for example. The length of the applicator member is defined herein as the length of the portion of the core carrying projecting members useful for application, for example bristles or teeth.

The application member may not be twisted over its entire length.

The applicator member may be twisted only on a distal portion, for example the distal half.

The angle of the major axis of the cross section of the applicator member, at a point of the longitudinal axis of the core, with a reference direction, may vary continuously as one moves along the longitudinal axis of the soul. An end of said major axis may describe a helix with a regular pitch around the longitudinal axis of the core. Alternatively, the angle may vary non-continuously. An end of said major axis may form a variable pitch helix around the longitudinal axis of the core, the pitch being able for example to increase towards a distal end of the applicator or to decrease in the direction of this distal end, or further increase then decrease, or decrease and then increase. The reference direction may be parallel to the major axis of the proximal cross section of the twisted portion.

The twisted portion may be clockwise or counterclockwise.

The twisted portion may be at least 30% wider than it is thick, in cross-section. In other words, the largest width of the cross section of the applicator member may be at least 1.3 times the thickness thereof. The twisted portion of the applicator member may be between 30% and 100% wider than it is thick, better between 35% and 55% wider than it is thick. The cross section of the applicator member may be for example rectangular, oval, oblong, diamond-shaped or kidney-shaped.

The width of the twisted portion is defined as the largest width of a cross section of the twisted portion. The thickness of the twisted portion is measured in a section plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the core in a direction perpendicular to the greatest width.

The largest transverse dimension of the twisted portion may be between 6 and 14 mm, better 8 and 16 mm as indicated above. The width of the twisted portion may be at least 3 mm greater than its thickness. The thickness of the twisted portion may be between 3 and 7 mm, more preferably 3 and 6 mm.

The applicator member may have two opposite main faces, the difference between them defines the thickness of the applicator member. These main faces can be parallel to each other.

The applicator member may have two lateral faces, for example convex towards the outside in cross section.

The soul can be centered or eccentric, rectilinear or not. The longitudinal axis of the core can be confused with the longitudinal axis of the rod. The longitudinal axis of the core may also not be aligned with the longitudinal axis of the stem. The soul can be curved.

The core may be a twisted core, for example having two branches of a wire, twisted together, so other than a core of thermoplastic material.

For the purposes of the present invention, "hair" means any salient individualizable element carried by the soul. The terms "hair", "protruding element" or "tooth" are interchangeable, although the term "hair" is usually used to designate the salient elements reported on a core, for example in the case of a twisted core brush, and the term "tooth" is often used to designate the application members of a molding application member.

The envelope surface is defined as the surface which rests on the free ends of the projecting elements.

The applicator member may be used to apply a product contained in a container having a wiper member.

Thanks to the twisted and flattened cross-sectional shape of the applicator member, the crossing of the wiper member can take place without excessive compression of the projecting elements over the entire periphery of the applicator member, and the applicator member can oppose relatively little resistance to cross the wiper member.

In addition, the phenomenon of depression-related swiveling created by the withdrawal of the rod can have limited effects, thanks to the air intake that can occur due to the shape of the application member.

The applicator member makes it possible to obtain a non-uniform wringing, leading to zones that are unequally loaded with product.

The longest protruding elements of the application member can be very dewatered. The shortest salient elements can be relatively loaded.

Thus, the user can have on the applicator member a larger amount of product, allowing to add locally on the eyelashes of the product if this is necessary during makeup, without having to plunge the organ in the container. On the other hand, the user has salient elements less loaded product, which can advantageously be used to separate the eyelashes, including small eyelashes at the end of the eyelid.

The stem may comprise an elastically deformable distal portion. This distal portion is for example formed by a tip attached to the rest of the rod, which can be made of a more rigid material. The tip may have one or more annular grooves giving it more flexibility.

The rod may comprise at a second end opposite the first a gripping member of the applicator, which may constitute a sealing cap of the container.

The applicator member may have an envelope surface of decreasing cross-section towards the proximal and distal ends of the applicator member. For example, the envelope surface is frustoconical at the proximal and distal ends.

According to another of its aspects, the subject of the invention is also an applicator comprising a rod and an applicator member at the end of this rod, the applicator member comprising projecting elements extending from a core, the applicator member having a twisted portion of flattened cross section, the major axes of the proximal and distal cross sections of the twisted portion being angularly offset about the longitudinal axis of the core of less than one quarter turn, less than 90 °.

Twisted core brushes

The soul can be a twisted soul.

The soul may be stepping left or right, in particular not left as described in the French patent application FR-A-2,701,198 . In a left-handed brush, the branches of the core are twisted by turning to the left to form turns which, viewed along the axis of the core from the end fixed in the stem, rotate clockwise when we move from the stem to the free end of the brush. The angle between the proximal and distal sections of the twisted portion may be in the same direction as the pitch of the core, for example clockwise and not to the left.

When the projecting elements are bristles held by a twisted core, the bristles may be natural or synthetic, and their ends may undergo any type of known treatment, for example to form rounded heads or forks. The applicator member may comprise a mixture of bristles. The bristles used may be of any kind, in particular be bristles with solid section, circular, or hollow bristles, with capillary grooves, flat or twisted, or with preferential deformation zone.

The angle between the proximal and distal sections of the twisted portion may be oriented in the opposite direction to the pitch of the core, for example anti-clockwise and not to the left or clockwise and not to the right .

In a particular embodiment, the brush is made from a straight twisted core blank, cylindrical envelope surface of revolution. A brush according to the invention can be obtained by twisting after flat cutting. The blank is machined to give the envelope surface a flattened shape and then the core is twisted on itself to give the brush a helical shape.

The blank may be a flat brush having a width of 6 to 14 mm, a thickness of 3 to 7 mm and a length of 22 to 35 mm.

The core can be twisted into a wire of 0.40 to 1 mm.

Starting from a twisted brush according to the invention, it is possible to return for the purposes of observation to the flattened cross-section blank with two flat and parallel faces by twisting it in the opposite direction until it is canceled. angle between the major axes of cross sections at the distal and proximal ends of the twisted portion.

1. a) réaliser une brosse, de préférence de surface enveloppe cylindrique, notamment cylindrique à section circulaire, à âme torsadée,
2. b) usiner la brosse, afin d'obtenir une ébauche de section transversale aplatie, sur au moins une portion de sa longueur,
3. c) vriller l'âme de ladite portion d'un angle (β) strictement inférieur à 90°.

The invention further relates to a method of manufacturing a brush, comprising the following steps:

1. a) producing a brush, preferably of cylindrical envelope surface, in particular cylindrical with circular section, with twisted core,
2. b) machining the brush to obtain a flattened cross-section blank over at least a portion of its length,
3. c) twist the core of said portion by an angle (β) strictly less than 90 °.

The diameter of the cylindrical brush of step a) may be between 8 and 16 mm. The starting brush may be larger than the final brush.

The blank obtained in step b) can be at least 30% wider than thick in cross section,

The angle (β) can be between 20 ° and 85 °, better be less than 45 °, even better be between 25 ° and 35 °, or even 30 °. The blank can be between 30% and 100% wider than it is thick, better between 35% and 55% wider than it is thick. The cross section of the blank is for example rectangular, oval, oblong, diamond-shaped or kidney-shaped.

The longitudinal axis of the soul can be rectilinear.

At least one facet or notch can be made on the blank before twisting the core, in step b) above.

The blank made in step a) may be left or right.

1. a) réaliser une brosse de surface enveloppe cylindrique, à âme torsadée,
2. b) usiner l'ébauche, afin d'obtenir une brosse comportant une portion de section transversale aplatie suivant un grand axe (X) sur au moins une partie de sa longueur, les grands axes (Xp) et (Xd) des sections transversales proximale et distale de la portion aplatie définissant entre eux un angle (β) strictement inférieur à un quart de tour.

In another variant, it is possible to obtain a brush according to the invention, for example by cutting with a milling cutter, by printing a relative rotation to the milling cutter or the brush either in one pass or in two passes. The manufacturing steps can then be:

1. a) producing a cylindrical envelope surface brush with a twisted core,
2. b) machining the blank to obtain a brush having a cross-section portion flattened along a major axis (X) over at least a portion of its length, the major axes (Xp) and (Xd) of the proximal cross-sections and distal of the flattened portion defining between them an angle (β) strictly less than a quarter of a turn.

combs

The applicator may comprise an applicator member comprising a core and rows of molded teeth made by molding material, also called "comb" or "injected brush".

The twisted configuration of the applicator member may be obtained by the shape of the mold used for molding, or alternatively the core may be deformed at the moment of application. demolding, by a twist exerted on it especially when the material is still hot.

The angular offset can be measured between the elongation directions of the extreme teeth of a helical row.

The applicator core may be of polygonal cross-section, for example in the form of a regular polygon or not, for example triangular, square, rectangular, pentagonal, hexagonal, heptagonal, or octagonal. The faces of the soul may be flat or slightly concave or slightly convex.

The core may comprise between 3 and 8 longitudinal faces, or even between 3 and 6 longitudinal faces.

The longitudinal faces of the core may be separated by ridges. One or more of the edges, even all the edges, can be twisted.

The cross section of the applicator member, at least on its twisted portion, is flattened. Teeth can have any shape.

features

The invention further relates to a packaging device and application comprising a container containing the product to be applied to the eyelashes or eyebrows and an applicator as defined above, brush or comb.

The device may comprise a wiper member of the applicator member at its outlet from the container, for example arranged on a neck of the container. The wiper member may be of any type suitable, being flexible or rigid, single stage or double stage.

The wiper member may have an inlet diameter which is less than or equal to the largest transverse dimension of the applicator member. The inlet diameter is that through which the wiper member opens out of the container. The diameter of the wiper orifice may be between 2.5 and 5.5 mm, better between 2.5 and 4.5 mm. By "diameter of the wiping orifice" it is necessary to understand that of the largest circle inscribed in the wiping orifice. The wiping orifice may be circular or not.

The gripper of the applicator can serve as closing cap of the container. The container and the closure cap may be configured to seal the closure of the container. They can for example cooperate by screwing.

Another subject of the invention, according to another of its aspects, is an eyelash or eyebrow makeup process comprising the step of applying a product to the eyelashes or eyebrows using an applicator as defined previously.

The product contained in the container is for example a product which tends not to load the eyelashes, for which it may be interesting to brush as little as possible eyelashes to avoid removing the previously deposited product. Thanks to the large contact area linked to the main faces of the brush, the brush makes it possible to make up the eyelashes while reducing the risk of product withdrawal.

• la figure 1 représente en coupe longitudinale, schématique, un exemple de dispositif de conditionnement et d'application réalisé conformément à l'invention,
• la figure 2 est une vue en perspective schématique et partielle d'un exemple de réalisation d'organe d'application selon l'invention,
• la figure 3 représente l'organe d'application de la figure 2 en vue de face, selon III,
• la figure 4 est une vue de coupe transversale selon IV-IV de la figure 2,
• la figure 5 est une vue de coupe transversale selon V-V de la figure 2,
• les figures 6 à 9 sont des vues analogues à la figure 4, de variantes de réalisation,
• les figures 10 et Il représentent de manière schématique, en perspective, la surface enveloppe d'exemples d'ébauches de brosses réalisées conformément à l'invention,
• la figure 12 est une vue de face de variante de réalisation d'ébauche de brosse,
• la figure 13 est une vue de coté de variante de réalisation d'ébauche de brosse,
• la figure 14 est une vue en perspective d'un exemple de réalisation d'organe d'application selon l'invention,
• la figure 15 représente un détail du récipient de la figure 1, applicateur enlevé,
• les figures 16 et 17 illustrent la possibilité de réaliser la tige avec une portion distale flexible, et
• la figure 18 représente en perspective un autre exemple de brosse selon l'invention.

The invention will be better understood on reading the following detailed description, non-limiting examples of implementation thereof, and on examining the appended drawing, in which:

• the figure 1 is a longitudinal section, schematic, an example of a packaging device and application made according to the invention,
• the figure 2 is a schematic and partial perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of an applicator member according to the invention,
• the figure 3 represents the enforcement body of the figure 2 in front view, according to III,
• the figure 4 is a cross-sectional view along IV-IV of the figure 2 ,
• the figure 5 is a cross-sectional view along VV of the figure 2 ,
• the Figures 6 to 9 are similar views to the figure 4 , variants,
• the figures 10 and show schematically, in perspective, the envelope surface of examples of brush blanks made according to the invention,
• the figure 12 is a front view of a variant embodiment of a brush blank,
• the figure 13 is a side view of a variant embodiment of a brush blank,
• the figure 14 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of an application member according to the invention,
• the figure 15 represents a detail of the container of the figure 1 , applicator removed,
• the Figures 16 and 17 illustrate the possibility of making the stem with a flexible distal portion, and
• the figure 18 represents in perspective another example of a brush according to the invention.

The device 10 for packaging and application represented at figure 1 comprises a container 2 containing a product P to be applied to the eyelashes or eyebrows and an applicator 3 which, in the example in question, can be fixed removably on the container 2.

The applicator 3 comprises a rod 5 of longitudinal axis Z, provided at one end with an applicator member 8 and at the other end with a gripping member 11 also constituting a sealing cap of the container 2. The latter comprises a body 13 provided superiorly with a threaded neck 14, on which the gripping member 11 can be screwed to close the container 2. Alternatively, the attachment of the applicator on the container can be done otherwise.

The neck 14 can accommodate, as illustrated, a wiper member 20 which is for example attached to the container.

This wiper member 20 may comprise, as illustrated, a lip 26 defining a wiper orifice 22 of diameter adapted to that of the rod 5.

The applicator member 8 can be fixed by any means adapted to the rod 5, for example to be received in a housing provided at the distal end of the rod.

In the example under consideration, the applicator member 8 comprises a twisted metal core 40.

The diameter of the rod 5 can decrease, as shown, on a distal portion 64 of the rod 5 adjacent to its distal end 66, and remain substantially constant over most of the rod to the gripping member 3.

If necessary, the rod 5 may have, in the portion that comes to be positioned opposite the wiper orifice when the applicator is in place on the container, an annular narrowing, to avoid constraining the lip d spin 26 during storage.

The core 40 carries bristles 41, which may be natural or synthetic, mixed or not, flocked or not.

In the example considered, the core 40 is formed by two branches of a U-folded wire, the bristles 41 being caught between the turns of the core. The diameter of the wire metal is for example 0.1 to 1 mm. The diameter of the bristles is, for example, from 0.06 to 0.35 mm.

The envelope surface E, defined by the free ends of the bristles 41, has two opposite main faces 50.

The core 40 is rectilinear in the example described, for example of longitudinal axis coinciding with that of the rod 5. The main faces 50 are connected by two lateral faces 51, which are for example convex towards the outside, as illustrated .

By way of examples, there are shown a few possible cross-sections for the application member on the Figures 6 to 9 .

The width / thickness ratio l / e may vary in a relatively large manner depending on the application members, as illustrated in these figures.

The applicator member may have a rectangular cross section and side faces 51 that are parallel, as shown in FIG. figure 7 .

The main faces 50 may be parallel, as illustrated on the Figures 2 to 7 , or convex outward, as illustrated in figure 8 .

When the main faces 50 are outwardly convex, the lateral faces 51 may be parallel, as shown in FIG. figure 8 , or in a variant not shown, to be convex outwards, for example with a radius of curvature smaller than that of the main faces.

The main faces 50 can still, as illustrated in FIG. figure 9 to be concave towards the outside, this concavity being for example defined by a portion of a circle or by faces forming a dihedral returning between them.

In a variant not illustrated, the applicator member may have, in cross section, an asymmetrical shape, for example with two main faces having different shapes.

The angular offset β between the major axes M of the transverse sections at the proximal and distal ends of the twisted portion of the applicator member can assume various values according to the exemplary embodiments, as mentioned above.

On the figure 10 , there is shown an alternative embodiment of the application member before twisting of the core 40, the side faces 51 are corrugated and pass for example by a relative minimum width substantially mid-length of the portion of the 40 soul carrying the hair.

The core 40 of the applicator member may also be eccentric, in cross-section, as illustrated in FIG. figure 11 .

When observed perpendicularly to the main faces, the blank 80 used to manufacture the applicator member 8 may have, as can be seen in FIG. figure 12 , side faces 51 which are not parallel and rectilinear for at least a portion of the length of the applicator member. These lateral faces 51 are for example concave towards the outside on a portion 90 of the blank which extends for example between distal and proximal portions 92, which are for example each of decreasing width towards the adjacent end of the implementing body.

On the figure 13 the possibility of having a core which is rectilinear on its portion carrying the bristles and which is at an angle γ with the longitudinal axis of the rod Z is illustrated, the core being for example bent around an axis which is for example parallel to the plane of the main faces 50.

The core 40 can be twisted in one direction and then in the other, for example twisted left over half of its length and twisted right on the remaining half.

On the figure 14 the applicator member 8 comprises a core 40 molded with teeth.

The core 40 has, for example, over most of its length a polygonal cross section, the sides of which define longitudinal faces 15.

The longitudinal faces 15 are for example four in number, the cross section of the core being for example substantially square as illustrated.

On each of these longitudinal faces 15 is connected in the illustrated example a single row 17 of teeth 18, which have for example aligned bases 19.

On the other hand, the teeth 18 of each row 17 extend along a longitudinal axis of the row which is twisted, as can be seen on the figure 17 the faces 15 of the core 40 are themselves twisted.

The core 40 can be extended, as in the example in question, from its proximal side, by a cylindrical endpiece which allows it to be fixed to the rod 5. The fixing can be done by force fitting, latching, gluing, welding or crimping in a housing provided at the end of the rod. Alternatively, the rod can be inserted into a housing provided in the core.

The core 40 can also be made in one piece by molding material with the rod 5 or with a housing in which the rod 5 is inserted.

The core 40 may be deformed at the time of demolding or alternatively be molded with its final shape.

The teeth 18 are made in the example considered in one piece by molding thermoplastic material with the core 40.

Can be used to mold the applicator member 8 a relatively rigid thermoplastic material or not, for example SEBS, PU, silicone, latex, butyl, EPDM, a nitrile, butyl nitrile, a polymer to acetate base, a styrene-based polymer SIS, a thermoplastic elastomer, a polyester, polyamide, polyethylene or vinyl elastomer, a polyolefin such as PE or PP, PVC, EVA, PS , PET, POM, PA or PMMA, an elastomer of PA. Use may in particular materials known under the trademark Hytrel ^{®, ®} Cariflexe, Alixine ^®, Santoprene ^®, Pebax ^®, this list is not exhaustive.

The applicator member 8 can also, if necessary, be produced by molding, stamping or machining a metallic material.

The teeth and the soul may be made of different materials, if any.

The applicator member 8 may comprise, at its distal end 12, a head which is tapered forwards in order to facilitate the retraction of the applicator 3 into the receptacle 2. The height of the teeth 18 may decrease in proximity to the head 12, along a distal portion, as illustrated on the figure 14 .

The height of the teeth 18 may also decrease along a proximal transition portion, in the direction of the rod 5, so as to facilitate the crossing of the wiper member 20 by the applicator member 8 during removal. of the applicator 3.

In general, the core may comprise any number of longitudinal faces, all the characteristics described above being applicable independently of the number of longitudinal faces.

The wiper member may have a portion of constant inner diameter, as illustrated in FIG. figure 15 .

The displacement of the twisted portion of the applicator member in contact with the cylindrical inner surface of the wiper member may promote the mixing of the product with the twisted portion of the applicator member acting as a turbine.

The rod 5 may be provided at the end, as illustrated in FIG. figure 16 , an elastically deformable tip 180 which serves as a support for the core of the brush and which allows a certain angular movement during removal of the brush from the container or during application, as illustrated in FIG. figure 17 . This tip comprises for example a groove 181. The tip is for example as described in EP 1 917 883 A2 and can be produced at least partially from a material from the following list: elastomer, thermoplastic, thermoplastic elastomer, LDPE, PVC, PU, polyester thermoplastic elastomers, especially terephthalate butene copolymers and polytetramethylene esterified glycol, HYTREL ^®, EPDM, PDM, EVA, SIS, SEBS, SBS, latex, silicone, nitrile, butyl, polyurethane, polyether amide block, polyester, this list not being limiting. The tip may be made of a material whose hardness is for example between 25 Shore A and 80 Shore D, or even between 40 Shore A and 70 Shore D. The rigid part or parts of the rod may be made of a thermoplastic material , in particular one of the materials selected from the following list: HDPE, LDPE, linear PE, PT, PP, POM, PA, PET, PBT, this list not being exhaustive.

The bristles may be natural or synthetic and for example be made of a material selected from: PE, PA, in particular PA6, PA6 / 6, PA 6/10 or PA-6/12, HYTREL ^®, PEBAX ^®, silicone, PU, this list n not being limiting. The brush may comprise bristles having elastic properties, especially bristles made of elastomer. Hair with magnetic properties can be used. The brush can be flocked. The bristles may be treated to have forks, balls or hooks at their ends. The hairs can be treated to be slippery.

The bristles may have a solid circular, hollow circular, hollow polygonal, for example triangular hollow section. The bristles may also have a star-shaped hollow section, a multilobed section, which may be solid, a flattened, oval, angled, H, dumbbell section, a full triangular, square, pentagonal polygonal shape. , semicircular, trapezoidal or tile-shaped. The bristles may have at least one capillary groove.

The brush may be vibrated, either by a generator mounted in the applicator, in particular on the gripping member, removably or not, or by an external vibrating element mounted on a finger of the user, for example.

A vibration generator is described in the French patent application FR 2 882 506 .

It is possible to use, in a variant, to make the core, a double wire which is itself twisted to grip the hairs, which can make the distribution of the free ends of the hairs more random. One can still form the brush by twisting between them two twisted cores each carrying bristles.

It is possible to use a wiper member whose wiper orifice is defined by a wavy lip. The wiper member may be rigid, for example made of non-elastomeric thermoplastic material. In another variant, the wiper member may be flexible, for example made of elastomer.

The brush may be twisted only on a distal portion, for example the distal half, as shown in FIG. figure 18 .

The core of the brush, once twisted, can be curved about an axis at least, for example an axis perpendicular to the soul.

The phrase "with one" should be understood as being synonymous with "comprising at least".

Claims (15)

Applicator (3) comprising a rod (5) and an applicator member (8) at the end of this rod, the applicator member comprising: a soul (40), - projecting elements (41, 18) extending from the core (40), the applicator member comprising a twisted portion of the envelope surface of flattened cross section, of greater transverse dimension ( l ) between 8 and 16 mm. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein the major axes (X _p ) and (X _d ) of the proximal and distal cross sections of the twisted portion are angularly offset about the longitudinal axis of the core by less than 90 °. Applicator according to claim 1 or 2, the thickness of the twisted portion being between 2 and 6.5 mm. Applicator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the twisted portion extending over at least half the length of the applicator member, better at least three quarters, even better throughout its length. Applicator according to any one of the preceding claims, the major axes (X _p ) and (X _d ) of the proximal and distal transverse sections of the twisted portion being angularly offset by an angle (β1) between 20 ° and 80 °. Applicator according to claim 5, the angle (β) being between 25 and 35 °. An applicator according to any one of the preceding claims, the twisted portion being at least 30% wider than it is thick in cross-section. Applicator according to any one of the preceding claims, the longitudinal axis of the core (40) being rectilinear. Applicator according to any one of the preceding claims, the width ( 1 ) of the twisted portion being at least 3 mm greater than its thickness (e). Applicator according to any one of the preceding claims, the twisted portion having two opposite main faces (50) parallel to each other. Applicator according to any one of claims 1 to 9, the twisted portion being at constant pitch. Applicator according to any one of claims 1 to 10, the core being twisted. Applicator according to any one of claims 5 and 6, with l / e ≥ 1.3, for at least one cross section of the core. Applicator according to claim 1, the applicator member and the projecting elements being molded. A method of manufacturing a brush, comprising the steps of: a) producing a circular-cylindrical, twisted-core envelope of surface brush with a diameter of between 8 and 16 mm, b) machining the brush over at least a portion of its length to obtain a flattened cross-sectional blank,
c1) twisting the core, preferably at an angle (β) strictly less than 90 °, or
c2) machining the blank with a relative rotational movement of the brush and the cutting tool, to obtain a brush having a portion of cross-section flattened over at least a portion of its length, the major axes (Xp ) and (Xd) proximal and distal cross sections of this machined portion defining an angle (β), preferably strictly less than 90 °.

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