FR2701197A1 - Mascara applicator and assembly comprising such an applicator and a body for storing mascara - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to the application of mascara. Specifically, the applicator comprises a wand (6) extending along an axis (rod) and locally carrying surfaces (5) for applying the said mascara onto the eyelashes. These surfaces, which develop around and along the said axis, essentially transversely to it, for example in a helix formation, are capable of being charged with or holding between them a certain amount of mascara, and the wand interacts with adjustment means (27, 37, 43) for varying the section of the above-mentioned application surfaces. The field of use of the invention is that of cosmetics and hygiene.

Description

 The invention relates to an applicator of a liquid or semi-liquid cosmetic product to be deposited on eyelashes and usually called "mascara", as well as a set for storing and applying such a product, via such an applicator.

 There are of course already on the market different types of applicators as well as different devices for storing and applying a mascara.

 However, experience has shown that existing systems do not really allow the amount of mascara to be applied at will, which can vary from one person to another, in particular depending on the section and / or the length. eyelashes, some people also want a light makeup of their eyelashes while others prefer a more pronounced makeup.

 Experience also proves that once the mascara is applied, the current applicators do not always allow a careful final combing of the eyelashes, all the more so since this operation requires as far as possible a dissociation of each eyelash from the set of eyelashes.

 It could also be noted that the fact of not being able to really determine in a determined manner the quantity of mascara worn by the applicator, implies that there usually remains, after each application, a certain amount of mascara on the applicator, this mascara still present can come "soil" the dose of mascara still in reserve in the body associated with the applicator, when it must be recharged for the next application.

 The object of the invention is in particular to provide a solution to these problems.

 For this, the invention is characterized first of all in that the proposed applicator comprises a rod extending along an axis and locally carrying application surfaces of the mascara on the eyelashes, these surfaces which develop around and the along said axis, essentially transversely to it, being able to load or retain between them a certain amount of mascara, the aforementioned rod also cooperating with adjustment means for varying, along the axis of the rod , the section of these application surfaces.

 Thus, the user will be able to adapt the application as a function of her own eyelashes and of the desired makeup, these “variable” application surfaces ensuring better respect for the eyelashes and allowing particularly careful combing thereof.

 Preferably, the aforementioned adjustment means will include means for bringing said spacing surfaces apart or for spacing them so as to vary, substantially parallel to the axis of the rod, the distance between two neighboring surfaces, in particular via an axial constraint. . And according to another characteristic of the invention, these application surfaces will be defined by a structure developing by winding along and substantially along the axis of said rod, in particular by forming a helix.

 According to yet another characteristic, the wound structure in question will advantageously consist of a more or less rigid wire, with a substantially smooth surface, such as a "bare" metal wire, devoid of roughness. In particular in this case, the mascara loading of the applicator will therefore be carried out essentially by capillary action, the mascara mainly coming to be housed in the space reserved between the turns. Thus, if once the application is completed, the turns are brought together until they are pressed against each other, the quantity of mascara reintroduced into the "virgin" reservoir will be greatly limited when everything is closed.

 In addition to such an applicator, the invention quite naturally relates to a set of storage and application of mascara, characterized in particular in that it comprises, apart from this applicator, a body enclosing a "reservoir" area suitable for containing mascara, this body being naturally open on one side so that the applicator can come into contact with the mascara and take care of a certain amount thereof.

 As will be seen in the more detailed description which follows, the applicator and the body may, in accordance with the invention, be either permanently linked to each other, or separable from each other, in particular at the time of application, each structure offering advantages.

 If the applicator is permanently linked to the body, two possibilities have been more particularly envisaged, namely either a mobile applicator, so as to be able, in one direction, to penetrate into the body and, in the opposite direction, to come out of this body by driving with him a certain amount of this mascara, that is to say an applicator at least partly fixed.

 In this second case, the applicator may, if one of its ends is considered, be fixedly connected to the body, an additional means, such as a foam pad, then being mounted sliding in the axis of the body and the applicator, in order to penetrate as far as the zone containing the mascara, and, in the opposite direction, to engage inside this applicator to supply it with the required dose.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description made with reference to the accompanying drawings in which
FIGS. 1 and 2 essentially show, in longitudinal median section, a first embodiment of an assembly according to the invention,
FIG. 3 shows on a larger scale and in cut away view an alternative embodiment of the applicator illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2,
FIG. 4 is a cutaway perspective view of another embodiment of the assembly of the invention,
FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the detail marked V in FIG. 4, after turning over,
FIGS. 6 and 7 schematically show in median longitudinal section the operating principle of the variant of FIG. 4,
and FIGS. 8, 9, 10 and 11 show, still in median longitudinal section, the construction structure and the operating principle of a fourth variant embodiment of the invention.

 In FIG. 1 first of all, we have identified as a whole 1 and 3, respectively the applicator and the body which contains the mascara and in which the application means 5, carried by the applicator, are housed in closed position of this set, to load mascara.

 More specifically, the body 3, the applicator of which is separable, consists of a hollow case, in this case cylindrical, of circular section, sealed, containing a reservoir 7 of mascara open on the outside at one end of the body, where, for sealing, this body is internally equipped with conventional seals in at least two parts 9a, 9b intended both to serve as "wringer" when the applicator leaves the body and to avoid any leakage of mascara.

 Projections 11 also allow, in the closed position, a slightly force locking between the body and the applicator which, at the location of its handle 13, has a complementary groove 15, between an annular seal 17 and a shoulder of stop 19.

 As illustrated, the applicator 1 also has, in the axial extension of the handle 13 (in this case cylindrical of circular section), a rigid rod 21 fixed on one side to this handle via a fixing head 21a and carrying, on the other, the means of application 5.

 These means 5 are here constituted by a wound structure, in this case in a helix, with an axis coincident with that of the handle and the rod and developing around the latter.

 This propeller has here been produced from a wire of a few tenths of a millimeter in cross section having a certain flexibility allowing it to be thus wound. One can in particular use a metal wire, or even a plastic filament.

 In the illustrated version, it will be noted that only part of the wire is thus shaped into a helix, the rest of this wire extending parallel to the axis of the helix, without crossing it, to end in a hook 23. And while the free end of said portion of helical wire 5 is fixed in a groove 25 that has the rod 21 towards its own free end, the other curved end 23 of the wire is hooked inside a hollow part 27 forming a carriage mounted to move in translation in the handle 13, along the general axis 1a of the latter, of the rod and of the propeller, so as a function of its position inside the handle, to separate or bring together the different turns of the propeller, parallel to the axis la.

 For its translational maneuver, the carriage 27 has two parts 27a, 27b of different sections.

 The first part 27a of smaller section is threaded, and its threads cooperate with those of a thread 31a provided in a hollow drive part 33 mounted freely rotating inside the handle but locked in translation, at the rear at the location of a peripheral shoulder 35, by a threaded ring 37 and, at the front, by abutment of its own end 33a against the initiation of guide grooves 39 formed over a certain length in the interior wall of the handle 13, parallel to the axis la, in such a way that peripheral longitudinal protuberances can slide therein, which has the portion of larger section 27b of the carriage 27.

 Outside, the control of this carriage is also ensured by means of a rotating ring 43 mounted free to rotate about the axis 1a but fixed in translation at the rear of the handle 13, a screw 45 and a locking pin 47 imposing the rotary movement of the ring 43 on the part 33.

 Still in FIGS. 1 or 2, it will be noted that in order to allow the carriage to ensure the approximation or spacing of the turns of the propeller, the rectilinear portion 6 of the wire passes freely through two coaxial openings 21c, 27c, formed at this effect in the front wall of the head 21a of the rod and of the carriage itself.

 On reading the above and in view of Figures 1 and 2 concerned, it will be understood that any action tending to rotate the ring 43 will communicate a rotational movement to the intermediate piece 33, which will cause the translational movement of the carriage 27 , which guided by its longitudinal protrusions 41, will move without turning along the axis la, exerting on the turns of the propeller 5 in one direction an axial stress, thus varying, along this axis la, the section of the surfaces separating the turns, loaded with mascara. Figure 1 also illustrates the applicator with its turns in their energized position with maximum spacing and fully retracted carriage, while Figure 2 shows the same applicator with its turns in their rest state, pressed against each other .

 Let us now look at Figure 3 to briefly describe the embodiment of the illustrated applicator variant, now marked 1 '.

 From the outset, it will be noted that this applicator is entirely suitable for cooperating with the receiving body 3 of FIG. 1, in the same way as the applicator 1.

 In fact, the applicator 1 ′ differs essentially from the applicator 1 only by the way in which the approximation or spacing means act on the propeller 5.

 Indeed, as a common element with the applicator 1, we find here the threaded intermediate piece 33, the rotating ring 43 with its screw 45 and the threaded ring 37.

 However, instead of controlling the carriage 27 in translation, this assembly now controls the translation, along the axis 49 of the applicator, of a rectilinear inner rod 51, mounted to slide freely inside another rod. hollow section of larger section 53, adapted to constitute an easy grip handle.

 In the illustrated version, the rod of smaller cross section (in this case circular) 51 is surrounded by the coaxial propeller 5 over most of its part located outside of the handle 53.

 And to allow the distance between the turns of the propeller to be varied, the end 5a of the latter away from the handle is fixed to the opposite end of the rod 51, for example by engagement of the end of the wire inside an orifice made through the rod, while its proximal end 5b comes to bear against the shoulder 55 formed by the sectional overhang of the rod 53.

 As for the portion of rod 51 which extends inside this handle 53, it will be noted in this FIG. 3 that it ends in the same way as the carriage 27 of FIG. 1, that is to say say that it initially has longitudinal protuberances 57 parallel to the axis 49 and guided in sliding in cooperating grooves 59 formed in the interior wall of the handle, the terminal end of this rod 51 having, at 51a, a reduction in section provided with a thread 61 cooperating with the internal thread 31a of the intermediate piece 33.

 Thus, an operation in one direction or the other, around the axis 49, of the ring 43 will only cause the axial translation of the rods 51 and 53 relative to each other, compressing or releasing a certain constraint the propeller which should therefore have a certain axial elasticity naturally tending to spread the pitch of its turns.

 The variant of Figures 4 to 7 is clearly different.

 First of all, the helical application means 5 here constitute a tip driven in translation by a carriage 63 so as to be able to enter or exit at will a cylindrical hollow body 64 of circular section comprising an outer sheath 65 forming a handle and containing a sheath 66 forming a reservoir for a certain amount of mascara (like the body 3 in FIG. 1), with, on the side of its opening 67, the necessary elastic sealing gasket 68 (for example made of elastomer) allowing the passage of the propeller in one direction or the other, while closing just after to avoid any leakage of mascara out of the body, a waterproof cap 69 allowing the opening 67 to be closed once the propeller retracted.

 To ensure this movement, the wire 71 from which the propeller is formed, is here fixed inside the sheath 66 to the carriage 63, by one of its ends 71a, end from which the wire extends parallel to the general axis 73 of the assembly to a fairly distant place where the wire goes back by winding in a helix around itself to a zone 5b where the propeller stops and where the wire is further extended by a new rectilinear portion parallel to the first so as to again penetrate inside the body even passing through the carriage 63 (see for clarity in FIG. 5), until it comes to be fixed at 71b, to a tongue 75, preferably metallic and folded in a "V" shape to have relative elasticity in the direction of the axis 73.

This metal tongue is extended on one side by lateral protuberances 77 adapted to each penetrate a groove, such as 79, formed in the inner wall of the sheath 66 which also has two through slots 81, 81 'extending parallel to the axis 73 and through each of which passes a stud 83 carried by the carriage 63, each stud then entering the helical threads, here in double helix 85, 85 ′, tapped along the inner wall of the sheath or handle 65 .

 In this way, any maneuver in relative rotation of the handle with respect to the sheath, via the rear exterior knurl 87 integral with this sheath, will cause the carriage and the tongue 75 to translate without rotation.

As long as, under the operation of this wheel, the carriage 63 has not reached a position close to its position in FIG. 7, the turns of the propeller 5 remain practically contiguous (see FIG. 6). By cons, as soon as the protuberances 77 of the tongue abut against the end of their respective grooves 79 (see FIG. 7), any maneuver in rotation in the same direction of the knurl 87 causes the carriage 63 to advance, but without consecutive movement of the protrusions 77, which causes an axial traction on one of the strands of the wire 71 (the other end of which is then practically locked in a fixed position relative to the body 64), resulting in a consecutive separation of the turns of the propeller, as clearly shown in Figure 7.

 Of course, to retract the propeller, it suffices to maneuver the knurl 87 in the opposite direction.

 The principle of embodiment of FIGS. 8 to 11 is still somewhat different.

 That said, in FIG. 8 first of all, it will be noted that in this variant, again on one side there is a closure cap 91 and, on the other, an assembly comprising a hollow body 93 with an outer sheath 94 and carrying, beyond its opening end, an applicator comprising a helical spring 95 of axis 96 coincident with that of the body.

There is also, inside the sheath 94, a sheath 98 forming a body with an external operating wheel 98a.

 In this case, the propeller is on one side fixed by an end turn to a carriage 97, while at its opposite end, its last turn is fixedly engaged in a groove 99 formed at the free end d '' a fixed connecting rod 101 extending along the axis 96 to the rear of the body 93 where it is linked to the rotary wheel 9 &

 The carriage 97 being intended for the adjustment of the turns 95, it has a peripheral thread cooperating with a tapping 104 formed in an adjustment ring 105 fixed to the sheath relative to which the ring is mounted to rotate.

 Indexing by associated slides 107 ensures the drive only in translation of the carriage 97 along the axis 96, following all rotational operations of the ring 105.

 Another particularity of the device is the way in which the "spring" 95 is supplied with mascara.

 In fact, to do this, an absorbent pad 109 has been used here, such as a pad of polyurethane foam with open or closed cells, animated back and forth along the axis 96, so that it functions as a shuttle between the inside of the body, and more precisely of its tank part 111, and the inside of the spring propeller (see Figure 12).

 For its operation, the pad 109 is pushed or pulled by a rod 113 which extends inside the body 93.

 Both the buffer and this rod have, along the axis 96, a central passage, through which the rod 101 passes.

 At the rear, the hollow rod 113 ends in a plate 115 engaging laterally, through two longitudinal slots 116, 116 ′ formed through the sheath parallel to the axis 96, in the grooves of a helical thread 118 formed in the inner wall of the sheath 94, (in the manner of the construction of FIGS. 4 to 7).

 In this way, two possibly complementary operating modes are possible: firstly, when an appropriate dose of mascara is to be applied, the user, after having removed the cap 91 which covers the rolled-up applicator 95, can for example any 'first maneuver the ring with fine adjustment 105 to adapt the pitch of the turns either by bringing them together (Figure 9) or by moving them apart (Figure 8).

 Then, the pad 109 being assumed to be immersed in the mascara, with which it is then impregnated (FIGS. 8 and 9), it can maneuver the thumb wheel 98a to release this pad which, on passing the conventional seal forming a wiper 119, is tablet to take only an appropriate dose of mascara (Figure 10).

 Beyond the wiper 119 (which then closes on the hollow rod 113), the pad 109 penetrates inside the propeller 95 with which it will load the turns in mascara (FIGS. 10 and 11).

 At her discretion, the user can use the device with the tampon either retracted, as in FIG. 8, or taken out, as in FIG. 11, the tampon playing in the latter case the role of means of applying the mascara, the eyelashes combed and separated by the turns of the propeller, taking care of mascara in contact with them and in contact with the tampon.

Of course, the user can adjust the position of the buffer and the spacing of the turns at any time. In addition, at the end of make-up, it will be able to compress these turns as much as possible, thus avoiding that mascara is retained there, the reintroduction of the tampon (especially when brushing the eyelashes) making it possible to largely limit the "contamination" of the dose. still virgin contained in the tank 111.

Claims (13)

 1 - mascara applicator, comprising a rod (6, 51, 71, 101) extending along an axis and locally carrying application surfaces on the eyelashes of the mascara, these surfaces (5, 95) which develop around and along said axis essentially transversely to it, being able to load or retain between them a certain amount of mascara, this rod also cooperating with means (27, 33, 43, 51a, 55, 75, 63, 81, 97, 105) of adjustment for varying the section of these application surfaces.  2 - Applicator according to claim 1 characterized in that said application surfaces are defined by a structure developing by winding along and substantially along the axis of the rod (6, 51, 71, 101).  3 - Applicator according to claim 1 or claim 2 characterized in that said surfaces develop in an axis helix (la, 49, 73, 96) parallel to that of the rod.  4 - Applicator according to claim 2 or claim 3 characterized in that said structure consists of a relatively rigid wire, with a substantially smooth surface, such as a metal wire.  5 - Applicator according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the said adjustment means comprise means (5a, 5b, 23, 25, 27, 55, 71a, 71b, 75, 97, 99) for bringing together or spacing between them of said application surfaces, parallel to the axis of the rod.  6 - Applicator according to claim 5 characterized in that said approximation or spacing means comprise means for constraining said rolled structure defining said application surfaces, to exert on it a stress, substantially parallel to its axis of winding .  7 - Applicator according to claim 6 characterized in that said constraint means comprise:  - Fixing means (5a, 25, 71a, 99) for, in a given state, blocking in fixed position one end of said structure relative to a handle (13, 53, 65, 93) to which it is connected according to a substantially coaxial arrangement, and  - Means (27, 55, 75, 97) for biasing a carriage (27, 51a, 63, 97) movable in translation of said handle, substantially parallel to the winding axis of said structure and to which is connected the other end of the latter to be moved.  8 - Applicator according to one of claims 2 to 7 characterized in that the rod comprises two coaxial parts (51, 53) of different sections, one of which moves in translation in the other, under the action of means ( 43, 59) for control and guiding, said structure defining the application surfaces being wound around the first portion of rod of smaller section (51) so that a first of its ends (5a) is fixed on the side of the free end of this first part of the rod, while the second end (5b) of the structure bears against the shoulder (55) formed by the increase in section of the second part (53) of the rod .  9 - Storage and application set for a mascara, comprising  - an applicator according to any one of the preceding claims, and  - A body containing a reservoir area (7, 66, 111) suitable for containing mascara, this body being open on one side so that said applicator can come into contact with the mascara and take care of a certain amount thereof.  10 - assembly according to claim 9 characterized in that the applicator (5) is separable from the body (3) whose opening is adapted so that the applicator can, in one direction, penetrate to said area (7) containing the mascara and, in the opposite direction, come out of the body by carrying with it a certain amount of this mascara.  11 - An assembly according to claim 9 characterized in that the applicator is permanently linked to the body.  12 - assembly according to claim 11 characterized in that the applicator is, with its carriage (63) and relative to the body (65) which then forms a handle, mounted sliding between a retracted position in this body to said area ( 66) containing the mascara, and an application exit position where it then projects out of said body.  13 - assembly according to claim 11 characterized in that the applicator is such that one end of its rolled structure (95) permanently occupies a fixed position relative to said body (93) which then forms a handle, while, to allow the variation in section of said application surfaces, the other end of the structure is fixed to said carriage (97) movable in translation in the axis (96) of the body to which it is linked, a pad (109) being slidably mounted in the axis of the body between a retracted position where it bathes in the mascara contained in said reservoir (111) and an extended position where it penetrates relatively closely inside said coiled structure, to provide it with a certain amount of mascara.